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.
Williamsburg County, South Carolina, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office, four 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 Williamsburg 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: Williamsburg County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Williamsburg County
The Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Williamsburg County. It reported 133 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Williamsburg County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Kingstree, 3,055 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hemingway, 466 residents: 37 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lane, 451 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2024.
- Greeleyville, 359 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2022.
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 Andrews Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Williamsburg County, so its arrests are not broken out for Williamsburg County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Williamsburg County: the Highway Patrol in Williamsburg County (state police); the Williamsburg County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Williamsburg County, Williamsburg County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Williamsburg County Forestry Commission and one more (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Williamsburg 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.
- Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office: 133 for 2025, 144 for 2024, 159 for 2023, 185 for 2022, 247 for 2021 and 312 for 2020.
- Kingstree: 93 for 2025, 143 for 2024, 173 for 2023 and 167 for 2022.
- Hemingway: 37 for 2025, 61 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 7 for 2022, 13 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
- Greeleyville: 0 for 2022.
- Lane: 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2021.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 263 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 263 in 2025 against 348 in 2024, down 24 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 221 arrests, against 138 in the same months of 2025.
Greeleyville and Lane reported only part of 2025 (10 months and 5 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Williamsburg County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Williamsburg County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 59 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 205 beds, and it ran at 29 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Williamsburg County
An arrest in Williamsburg County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Williamsburg County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at williamsburgcounty.sc.gov/390/Courts); the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at williamsburgcounty.sc.gov/306/Solicitor, phone 843-355-9321).
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 Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Kingstree, Hemingway, Lane or Greeleyville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Highway Patrol in Williamsburg County, the Williamsburg County State Transport Police or the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Williamsburg County: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, 843-355-9321, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Williamsburg County Circuit Court, through the court records page at williamsburgcounty.sc.gov/390/Courts.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at williamsburgcounty.sc.gov (page title: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) | Williamsburg County, SC).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Williamsburg County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Williamsburg County: Kingstree, Hemingway, Lane and Greeleyville. Stuckey has 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 Williamsburg County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Williamsburg County each year?
The Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office reported 133 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 263 between them.
Where are people arrested in Williamsburg County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Williamsburg 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 williamsburgcounty.sc.gov.
Is this the official Williamsburg 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.