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 between September 24, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Charleston County, South Carolina, has about 431,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and 12 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 Charleston 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: Charleston County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Charleston County
The Charleston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Charleston County. It reported 1,250 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Charleston County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Charleston, 157,665 residents: 6,091 arrests reported for 2025.
- North Charleston, 126,005 residents: 3,193 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Pleasant, 95,604 residents: 1,248 arrests reported for 2025.
- Isle of Palms, 4,377 residents: 306 arrests reported for 2025.
- Folly Beach, 2,084 residents: 267 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sullivan's Island, 1,948 residents: 50 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Summerville Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Charleston County, so its arrests are not broken out for Charleston County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Charleston County: the Highway Patrol in Charleston County (state police); Medical University of South Carolina, The Citadel, Trident Technical College and the College of Charleston (campus police); the State Ports Authority, the Charleston County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Charleston County, Charleston County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and two more (state agency); the Charleston County Aviation Authority (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Charleston County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Charleston: 6,091 for 2025, 5,246 for 2024, 4,261 for 2023, 4,108 for 2022, 3,534 for 2021 and 3,322 for 2020.
- North Charleston: 3,193 for 2025, 3,316 for 2024, 3,322 for 2023, 2,937 for 2022, 3,432 for 2021 and 4,187 for 2020.
- Charleston County Sheriff's Office: 1,250 for 2025, 1,401 for 2023, 1,634 for 2022, 1,456 for 2021 and 2,187 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Mount Pleasant: 1,248 for 2025, 1,308 for 2024, 1,172 for 2023, 1,022 for 2022, 880 for 2021 and 1,230 for 2020.
- Isle of Palms: 306 for 2025, 452 for 2024, 375 for 2023, 379 for 2022 and 410 for 2021.
- Folly Beach: 267 for 2025, 207 for 2024 and 172 for 2023.
- Sullivan's Island: 50 for 2025, 49 for 2024, 45 for 2023, 40 for 2022, 36 for 2021 and 34 for 2020.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,405 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 11,155 in 2025 against 10,578 in 2024, up 5.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 8,826 arrests, against 7,105 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Charleston County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Charleston County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 1,080 people, up from about 1,060 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,693 beds, and it ran at 58 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office at charlestoncounty.gov/departments/sheriff/law-enforcement.php (page title: Charleston County Sheriff's Office: Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center | Chain of Command), phone (843) 202-7200, 3841 Leeds Ave., N. Charleston, SC 29405, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9-11:30AM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
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 Charleston County
For Charleston County the place to look is the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at expungement.charlestoncounty.gov, phone (843)719-4529).
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 Charleston County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Charleston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (843) 202-7200.
- An arrest in Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach or Sullivan's Island: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Highway Patrol in Charleston County, Medical University of South Carolina or The Citadel: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, (843)719-4529, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Charleston County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the 16 cities in Charleston County: Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach and Sullivan's Island. James Island, Hollywood, Ravenel, Seabrook Island, Kiawah Island, Awendaw, Meggett, Lincolnville, McClellanville and Rockville 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 Charleston County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Charleston County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- North Charleston (126,005)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Charleston County each year?
Charleston reported 6,091 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 12,405 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Charleston County?
Ask the Charleston County Sheriff's Office at (843) 202-7200; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at charlestoncounty.gov.
Where are people arrested in Charleston County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Charleston 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 Charleston County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Charleston 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 Charleston 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.