Learn About the South Carolina Public Records

The public records of South Carolina are governed by the Freedom of Information Act [S.C Code of Laws, Title 30 Chapter 4]. This legislation states that a South Carolina public record “includes all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public body.” These records can be viewed or copied by any person who does come under the category of exceptions that are listed in Section 30-4-40.

Public Records of South Carolina

The state of South Carolina offers a number of records for public access. The vital records of South Carolina are stored in the County Health Department in the vital records office. Birth records and death records registered after January 1, 1915 are maintained here. Death records are maintained since April 1949 from the County Clerk of each county of South Carolina. Marriage records before 1950 may be obtained from the county Probate Judge of respective counties.

The tax records of personal property and real property are handled by the Assessor Office of the respective county. You can conduct an online search with the help of the owner name, address and parcel number. But extra information may be required depending on the county offices. The counties which do not offer such online details may provide information against requests made by phone, application or by person.

The vehicle tax records are available in a few counties of South Carolina. You can know about a vehicle tax history with the help of the owner’s name or receipt number. The SC counties rendering online systems for property search, vehicle search or both are as follows-

• Abbeville
• Aiken
• Anderson
• Beaufort
• Berkeley
• Calhoun
• Charleston
• Chesterfield
• Clarendon
• Colleton
• Darlington
• Dillon
• Dorchester
• Edgefield
• Florence
• Georgetown
• Greenville
• Greenwood
• Horry
• Jasper
• Kershaw
• Lancaster
• Laurens
• Lexington
• Marion
• Marlboro
• Newberry
• Orangeburg
• Pickens
• Richland
• Spartanburg
• Sumter
• York

Information on records is maintained in a very systematic manner. They are generally confined to the respective state, county, city, township, political subdivision, nonprofit corporation and other organizational locations. The respective offices of these records check and update the contents regularly. Moreover the documents are re-monitored after every release to prevent any damage.

South Carolina offers certain data about inmates and criminals to be retrieved by the general public. Result will display about information like- case details, SSN code, name of the offender, offense details, relevant dates, addresses, sentence details and sometimes even photographs.

Learn more about South Carolina public records from:  http://sc.gov/Pages/OnlineServices.aspx

Public Record Search

Searching for public records is now an easy task. There are several search sites dedicated to different types of public records. Different records are found in different places. The criminal records are maintained in respective law enforcing bodies of state, county and state and in court records.

In the South Carolina Department of Corrections you can investigate about both incarcerated and currently sentenced inmates. But this department would not informed about the following-

• Released inmates
• Inmates under parole
• Inmates under community supervision
• Inmates sentenced to facilities of county detention
• Housed juvenile offenders
• Fugitives

Click on the following URL to conduct an inmate search: https://sword.doc.state.sc.us/incarceratedInmateSearch/

Or email your queries at: corrections.info@doc.state.sc.us

The accounting division of South Carolina Office of State Treasurer offers databases to inquire about outstanding checks that are more that 2 years old. Start a search simply by entering your name or the business name. Learn more from: http://www.state.sc.us/treas/cms/check_search_cio.htm

Other public records that can be acquired on line include unclaimed property records, sex offender records, driving records and professional license records. Education records and medical records can only be retrieved by the person himself. Records are mostly available in the State Department of Health, Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Office of the Attorney General, Judicial Department, South Carolina Department of Archives and History and other state departments.