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 October 2, 2026.
Chester County, South Carolina, has about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chester 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 Chester 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: Chester County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chester County
The Chester County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chester County. It reported 392 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Chester County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Chester, 5,230 residents: 170 arrests reported for 2024.
- Great Falls, 1,926 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2023.
- Fort Lawn, 980 residents: 16 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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Chester County: the Chester County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Chester County, Chester County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Chester County Forestry Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Chester County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chester 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.
- Chester County Sheriff's Office: 392 for 2025, 569 for 2024, 524 for 2023, 487 for 2022, 620 for 2021 and 606 for 2020.
- Fort Lawn: 16 for 2025 and 12 for 2024.
- Chester: 170 for 2024, 167 for 2022, 202 for 2021 and 485 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Great Falls: 31 for 2023, 30 for 2022 and 62 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 408 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 408 in 2025 against 581 in 2024, down 30 percent.
Chester reported only part of 2025 (5 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chester County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Chester 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 2021 the jail held about 75 people, down from about 83 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 146 beds, and it ran at 57 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 Chester County Sheriff's Office at chesterscsheriff.com (page title: Sheriff's Office), phone (803) 581-5131, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the South Carolina Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Chester County
For Chester County the place to look is the case index of the Chester County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sccourts.org/courts/courthouse-search/chester, phone (803) 385-2605).
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 Chester 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 Chester County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (803) 581-5131.
- An arrest in Chester, Great Falls or Fort Lawn: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Chester County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Chester County or Chester County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chester County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sccourts.org/courts/courthouse-search/chester, phone (803) 385-2605.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Chester County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Chester County: Chester, Great Falls and Fort Lawn. Richburg and Lowrys 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 Chester County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chester County each year?
The Chester County Sheriff's Office reported 392 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 408 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chester County?
Ask the Chester County Sheriff's Office at (803) 581-5131; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at chesterscsheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Chester County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chester County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chester 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 Chester County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chester 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 Chester 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.