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 30, 2026.
Lexington County, South Carolina, has about 314,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lexington County Sheriff's Office, 11 city agencies and ten 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 Lexington 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: Lexington County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lexington County
The Lexington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lexington County. It reported 2,445 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside 11 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:
- Lexington, 25,354 residents: 936 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Columbia, 18,418 residents: 1,131 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cayce, 13,645 residents: 381 arrests reported for 2025.
- Batesburg-Leesville, 5,321 residents: 346 arrests reported for 2025.
- Springdale, 2,756 residents: 94 arrests reported for 2025.
- South Congaree, 2,392 residents: 84 arrests reported for 2024.
- Pine Ridge, 2,326 residents: 8 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chapin, 1,934 residents: 34 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gaston, 1,641 residents: 54 arrests reported for 2025.
- Swansea, 771 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2023.
- Pelion, 623 residents: 61 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Columbia Police Department and the Irmo Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Lexington County, so their arrests are not broken out for Lexington County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lexington County: the Lexington County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Lexington County, Lexington County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Lexington County Forestry Commission and one more (state agency); Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Lexington County Medical Center and Atlantic Railways (other); Midlands Technical College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Lexington County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lexington 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.
- Lexington County Sheriff's Office: 2,445 for 2025, 2,384 for 2024, 2,733 for 2023, 2,781 for 2022, 2,900 for 2021 and 2,824 for 2020.
- West Columbia: 1,131 for 2025, 1,019 for 2024, 981 for 2023, 881 for 2022, 873 for 2021 and 1,000 for 2020.
- Lexington: 936 for 2025, 809 for 2024, 802 for 2023, 852 for 2022, 1,151 for 2021 and 771 for 2020.
- Cayce: 381 for 2025, 383 for 2024, 493 for 2023, 686 for 2022, 490 for 2021 and 445 for 2020.
- Batesburg-Leesville: 346 for 2025, 310 for 2024, 481 for 2022, 342 for 2021, 301 for 2020 and 400 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Springdale: 94 for 2025, 179 for 2024, 232 for 2023, 348 for 2022, 400 for 2021 and 312 for 2020.
- Gaston: 54 for 2025, 56 for 2024, 47 for 2023, 49 for 2022, 56 for 2021 and 52 for 2020.
- Chapin: 34 for 2025, 42 for 2024, 61 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 49 for 2021 and 58 for 2020.
- Pine Ridge: 8 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 7 for 2023 and 7 for 2022.
- Swansea: 93 for 2023.
- South Congaree: 84 for 2024, 171 for 2023, 146 for 2022 and 102 for 2021.
- Pelion: 61 for 2024, 76 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 57 for 2021, 54 for 2020 and 30 for 2019.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,429 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,429 in 2025 against 5,190 in 2024, up 4.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the eight agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,085 arrests, against 2,838 in the same months of 2025.
South Congaree and Swansea reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 3 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lexington County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Lexington 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 590 people, down from about 690 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 599 beds, and it ran at 99 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 Lexington County Sheriff's Office at lexingtonscsheriff.com (page title: Lexington County Sheriff's Department), phone 803-785-8230, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Lexington County
For Lexington County the place to look is the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lex-co.sc.gov/directories/building-directory/solicitor, phone (803) 785-8352).
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 Lexington 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 Lexington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 803-785-8230.
- An arrest in Lexington, West Columbia, Cayce, Batesburg-Leesville, Springdale, South Congaree or another of the cities listed above: 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 Lexington County State Transport Police, Columbia Metropolitan Airport or Midlands Technical College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, (803) 785-8352, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lexsc.nextrequest.com (page title: Town of Lexington Records Request PortalNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lexington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the 13 cities in Lexington County: Lexington, West Columbia, Cayce, Batesburg-Leesville, Springdale, South Congaree, Pine Ridge, Chapin, Gaston, Swansea and Pelion. Gilbert and Summit 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 Lexington County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lexington County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Cayce (13,645)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lexington County each year?
The Lexington County Sheriff's Office reported 2,445 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,429 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lexington County?
Ask the Lexington County Sheriff's Office at 803-785-8230; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lexingtonscsheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Lexington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lexington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lexington 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 Lexington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lexington 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 lexsc.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Lexington 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.