Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Barnwell County, South Carolina, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and six campus, state or other agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Solicitor files charges, a case in the Barnwell County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Barnwell County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barnwell County
The Barnwell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Barnwell County. It reported 386 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Barnwell, 4,589 residents: 141 arrests reported for 2025.
- Williston, 2,879 residents: 124 arrests reported for 2025.
- Blackville, 1,906 residents: 115 arrests reported for 2022.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Barnwell County: the Barnwell County Forestry Commission, the Barnwell County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Barnwell County, Barnwell County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Barnwell County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Barnwell County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Barnwell County Sheriff's Office: 386 for 2025, 439 for 2024, 395 for 2023, 335 for 2022, 332 for 2021 and 367 for 2020.
- Barnwell: 141 for 2025, 129 for 2024, 176 for 2023, 138 for 2022, 124 for 2021 and 155 for 2020.
- Williston: 124 for 2025, 157 for 2024, 112 for 2023, 115 for 2022, 54 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
- Blackville: 115 for 2022, 130 for 2021, 87 for 2020 and 96 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 651 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 651 in 2025 against 725 in 2024, down 10 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 406 arrests, against 365 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barnwell County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Barnwell County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 95 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 124 beds, and it ran at 77 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Barnwell County
South Carolina is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25 a search, through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Barnwell County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old, and it may charge search, retrieval and copying at the agency's actual cost.
- An arrest by the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Barnwell, Williston or Blackville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Barnwell County Forestry Commission, the Barnwell County State Transport Police or the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Barnwell County: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Barnwell County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Barnwell County: Barnwell, Williston and Blackville. Hilda, Snelling, Kline and Elko have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Barnwell County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barnwell County each year?
The Barnwell County Sheriff's Office reported 386 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 651 between them.
Where are people arrested in Barnwell County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barnwell County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Barnwell County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old.
Is this the official Barnwell County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.