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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Beaufort County, South Carolina, has about 202,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Beaufort County comes from a judge of the Beaufort County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Beaufort County public records, Beaufort County arrest records, Beaufort County inmate search, Beaufort County criminal records, Beaufort County court records, South Carolina arrest records and South Carolina inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Beaufort County
In South Carolina an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Beaufort County that means the Beaufort County Circuit Court, which hears felonies in the Court of General Sessions and civil cases over $7,500 in the Court of Common Pleas; the Magistrate Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $7,500, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
A bench warrant follows a missed court date in any of those courts. Whichever kind it is, the warrant is part of the file of the case it was issued in, and the Clerk of Court keeps that file.
For Beaufort County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at beaufortcountysc.gov/clerk-of-court/index.html (page title: Clerk of Court), phone (843) 255-5710, 102 Ribaut Road Suite 208 Beaufort, SC 29902, Monday- Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
South Carolina has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Beaufort County
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bluffton, Port Royal and Beaufort serve warrants in Beaufort County.
The FBI's agency list also places one state police unit, five state agencies and one campus police department in Beaufort County (the arrest records guide names each one); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The Hardeeville Police Department and the Yemassee Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Beaufort County, so their arrests are not broken out for Beaufort County here.
A warrant issued in Beaufort County is good anywhere in South Carolina, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the three agencies in Beaufort County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,559 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Beaufort County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Beaufort County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, held about 120 people on an average day in 2021 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a jail page SearchSystems verified at beaufortcountysc.gov/detention-center/inmate-inquiry-system.html. The Beaufort County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Beaufort County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Beaufort County
The place to check for a warrant from Beaufort County is the court file of the case, through the Clerk of Court at (843) 255-5710, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
Not one of the Beaufort County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's and the court's) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
Clearing a Warrant from Beaufort County
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Beaufort County that means appearing before the Beaufort County Circuit Court or the Magistrate Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Clerk of Court.
A missed date in a case before the Magistrate Court is handled by that court, not by the Beaufort County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Beaufort County?
Not from the Beaufort County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Clerk of Court at (843) 255-5710.
Who serves warrants in Beaufort County?
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an South Carolina warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Beaufort County held?
At the county jail, run by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Beaufort County cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Clerk of Court at (843) 255-5710.
Is this the official Beaufort 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.