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.
Dorchester County, South Carolina, has about 175,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dorchester County is held at the county jail, run by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Dorchester County public records, Dorchester County arrest records, Dorchester County warrants, Dorchester County criminal records, Dorchester County court records, South Carolina arrest records and South Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dorchester County
The county jail, run by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Dorchester County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office at dorchestercountysc.gov/government/public-safety/sheriff-s-office/de... (page title: Inmate Lookup | Dorchester County, SC website), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Dorchester County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 250 people, down from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 264 beds, and it ran at 96 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Dorchester County has about 175,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 14 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Dorchester County Jail
The Dorchester County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Summerville, St. George, Ridgeville and Harleyville make the arrests that end in a booking in Dorchester County.
The FBI's agency list also places five state agencies and one state police unit in Dorchester County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The North Charleston Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Dorchester County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dorchester County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Summerville's 1,569 for 2025, the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office's 964 for 2025 and St. George's 114 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Dorchester County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,647 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Dorchester County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Dorchester County serves the sentence in a facility of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Dorchester County?
Look on the custody page of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office at dorchestercountysc.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Dorchester County jail?
About 250 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 264 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Dorchester County go?
To a facility of the South Carolina Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
Is this the official Dorchester 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.