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 1, 2026.
Hampton County, South Carolina, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hampton County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Hampton 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: Hampton County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hampton County
The Hampton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hampton County. It reported 56 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Hampton, 2,602 residents: 98 arrests reported for 2025.
- Estill, 1,770 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2025.
- Varnville, 1,630 residents.
- Yemassee, 1,127 residents: 70 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gifford, 260 residents: 1 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 Hampton County: the Department of Natural Resources in Hampton County, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control at Hampton, the Hampton County Forestry Commission, the Hampton County State Transport Police and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Hampton County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hampton 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.
- Hampton: 98 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 74 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 82 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Yemassee: 70 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 78 for 2023, 85 for 2022, 91 for 2021 and 108 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Estill: 19 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
- Hampton County Sheriff's Office: 56 for 2024, 98 for 2023, 100 for 2022, 164 for 2021, 83 for 2020 and 118 for 2019.
- Gifford: 1 for 2023 and 2 for 2022.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 187 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 187 in 2025 against 127 in 2024, up 47 percent.
Through April 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 33 arrests, against 55 in the same months of 2025.
Varnville and Hampton County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (10 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hampton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hampton 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 2019 the jail held about 54 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 54 beds, and it ran at 100 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 Hampton County Sheriff's Office at hamptoncountysheriff.org/detention-center (page title: Hampton County Sheriff's Office | Varnville, South Carolina), phone (803) 943-9261, 2200 Location 411 Cemetery Road Varnville, SC 29944, Mon - Fri, 8 AM - 5 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 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 Hampton County
For Hampton County the place to look is the case index of the Hampton 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/hampton, phone (803) 914-2250).
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 Hampton 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 Hampton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (803) 943-9261.
- An arrest in Hampton, Estill, Varnville, Yemassee or Gifford: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Department of Natural Resources in Hampton County, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control at Hampton or the Hampton County Forestry Commission: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hampton County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sccourts.org/courts/courthouse-search/hampton, phone (803) 914-2250.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Hampton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Hampton County: Hampton, Estill, Varnville, Yemassee and Gifford. Brunson, Furman, Scotia and Luray 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 Hampton County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hampton County each year?
Hampton reported 98 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 187 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hampton County?
Ask the Hampton County Sheriff's Office at (803) 943-9261; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hamptoncountysheriff.org/detention-center.
Where are people arrested in Hampton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hampton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hampton 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 Hampton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hampton 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 Hampton 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.