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.
Georgetown County, South Carolina, has about 66,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Georgetown 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 Georgetown 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: Georgetown County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Georgetown County
The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Georgetown County. It reported 1,654 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:
- Georgetown, 8,821 residents: 583 arrests reported for 2025.
- Andrews, 2,530 residents: 46 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pawleys Island, 134 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2023.
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 Georgetown County: the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control at Georgetown, the Georgetown County State Transport Police, Georgetown County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Georgetown County Forestry Commission and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Georgetown County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Georgetown 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.
- Georgetown County Sheriff's Office: 1,654 for 2025, 1,433 for 2024, 1,063 for 2023, 842 for 2022, 981 for 2021 and 923 for 2020.
- Georgetown: 583 for 2025, 940 for 2024, 720 for 2023, 634 for 2022, 625 for 2021 and 656 for 2020.
- Andrews: 46 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 43 for 2023 and 59 for 2022.
- Pawleys Island: 0 for 2023 and 4 for 2020; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,283 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,283 in 2025 against 2,434 in 2024, down 6.2 percent.
Pawleys Island reported only part of 2025 (7 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Georgetown County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Georgetown 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 2023 the jail held about 98 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 212 beds, and it ran at 46 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 Georgetown County Sheriff's Office at gcsheriff.org/enforcement-division/detention-center/mission (page title: Mission), phone (843) 546-5102, 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 Georgetown County
Whether someone was arrested in Georgetown County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Georgetown County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gtcountysc.gov/216/Clerk-of-Court, phone 888-346-5592); the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at gtcountysc.gov/227/Solicitor, phone 843-545-3169).
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 Georgetown 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 Georgetown County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (843) 546-5102.
- An arrest in Georgetown, Andrews or Pawleys Island: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control at Georgetown, the Georgetown County State Transport Police or Georgetown County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, 843-545-3169, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Georgetown County Circuit Court, through the court records page at gtcountysc.gov/216/Clerk-of-Court, phone 888-346-5592.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at georgetowncountysc.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Georgetown County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Georgetown County: Georgetown, Andrews and Pawleys Island.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Georgetown County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Georgetown County each year?
The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office reported 1,654 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,283 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Georgetown County?
Ask the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office at (843) 546-5102; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at gcsheriff.org.
Where are people arrested in Georgetown County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Georgetown 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 Georgetown County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Georgetown 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at georgetowncountysc.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Georgetown 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.