Beaufort County

Beaufort County follows South Carolina law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first

A magistrate, or a municipal judge for city charges, sets bond at a hearing within 24 hours of arrest. Magistrates need not be lawyers. A magistrate can't set bail on a charge punishable by death or life in prison; a circuit judge does.

S.C. Code 22-5-510S.C. Code 17-15-10 and following

Time to see a judge

A person charged with a bailable offense must have a bond hearing within 24 hours of arrest, and the jail must release the person within four hours after the bond is delivered.

S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)

Money bail

Magistrates and judges may set cash or surety bonds. A person charged with a new violent offense while out on bond for one loses the first bond, and any new bond must be paid in full cash.

S.C. Code 17-15-10, 17-15-15, 17-15-55

Courts

The circuit court, sitting as the Court of General Sessions, tries felonies and the more serious misdemeanors. Magistrate courts in each county try crimes punished by up to 30 days in jail or a $500 fine, and municipal courts try similar crimes and ordinance violations inside city limits.

S.C. Code 22-3-540, 22-3-550S.C. Const. art. V, sec. 13

Judges and magistrates

The General Assembly elects circuit judges by a joint vote for six-year terms. The governor appoints magistrates, with the Senate's consent, for four-year terms. Magistrates appointed since 2005 need a four-year college degree and must pass a certification exam, but need not be lawyers.

S.C. Const. art. V, sec. 13S.C. Code 22-1-10

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Magistrates are called summary court judges, so setter_is_judge is "yes" though they need not be lawyers. Whether municipal or magistrate courts use a bail schedule for minor offenses was not found. How many counties have moved the jail from the sheriff to the county government was not counted.

• Hilton Head Island town37,911
• Bluffton town33,157
• Port Royal town15,579
• Beaufort13,747
• Hardeeville10,871
• Ridgeland town3,764
• Yemassee town1,178

Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Beaufort County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.

• Beaufort County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police135,071 served
• Bluffton Police DepartmentCity police department38,446 served
• Port Royal Police DepartmentCity police department17,030 served
• Hardeeville Police DepartmentCity police department16,040 served
• Beaufort Police DepartmentCity police department14,521 served
• Yemassee Police DepartmentCity police department1,127 served
• Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control: Beaufort CountyOther state agency
• Department of Natural Resources: Beaufort CountyOther state agency
• Forestry Commission: Beaufort CountyOther state agency
• Highway Patrol: Beaufort CountyState police agency
• State Transport Police: Beaufort CountyOther state agency
• University of South Carolina: BeaufortCollege or university police

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.