Search Clarendon County Court Records
Clarendon County Court records are searched first through the South Carolina Judicial Branch Case Records Search system. That landing page routes users to trial-court Public Index records, Family Court records, traffic tickets, and court rosters. For local trial matters, the direct county link is the Clarendon County Public Index. The Judicial Branch notes that cookies and JavaScript must be enabled, and some browsers need a pop-up exception before case detail will open.
The search works best when the case number is known. Name searches can still work, but the Public Index uses filters such as court type, case type, party type, date range, and action type to narrow large result sets. If a record is not available online, the Clarendon County Clerk of Court provides criminal and civil copies in person, by mail, or by fax.
- Open the Judicial Branch case records page, then choose Clarendon County or use the Clarendon Public Index link.
- Accept the portal terms and complete the required security check before searching.
- Search by case number when available, or use a party name with court type, case type, and date filters.
- Open the case detail, roster entry, or linked court record if the browser allows the pop-up.
- Request copies from the Clerk of Court when a file is offline, incomplete, or needed in copy form.
Note: Home address information no longer displays on the Public Index for new or existing cases as of January 1, 2026.
Clarendon County Search Fields
The Public Index search is more than a simple name box. It can use several fields that help separate Circuit Court civil records from General Sessions criminal records and lower court matters. Searchers should keep alternate spellings, business names, and older case numbers in mind, because court records can reflect the name or caption used when the case was filed.
| Field or Filter | How It Helps |
|---|---|
| Case # | Best search key when the docket or case number is known. |
| Name | Searches party, defendant, plaintiff, or business names. |
| Action Type | Narrows events such as motions, judgments, foreclosure actions, or ADR entries. |
| Date Type and Date Range | Limits the search by the selected date field. |
| Court Type and Agency | Separates Clarendon County Circuit, Family, Magistrate, Municipal, or other court levels. |
| Case Type / Subtype | Filters civil, criminal, appeal, traffic, or other case categories. |
| Security Check | Required before results can be reviewed. |
The Judicial Branch Clarendon County courthouse profile is also useful because it links to the county Public Index, court rosters, public defender, solicitor, and county website.
The official courthouse profile shows the local court links that anchor most Clarendon County Court record searches.
That profile is the state-level directory for the courthouse, circuit, judges, and related record-access links.
Clarendon County Court System
Clarendon County is part of South Carolina's Third Judicial Circuit with Lee, Sumter, and Williamsburg Counties. The primary trial court is Circuit Court. Civil Circuit Court work is handled through the Court of Common Pleas, while criminal Circuit Court work is handled through General Sessions Court. Family Court and Probate Court are separate trial-court venues, and Magistrate Court and Municipal Court handle summary-level matters.
Case flow: Magistrate or Municipal Court > Circuit Court, Family Court, or Probate Court by case type > South Carolina Court of Appeals > Supreme Court of South Carolina when review is accepted or required.
| Court | Local Role | Common Records |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | General jurisdiction trial court for civil and criminal cases. | Common Pleas files, General Sessions files, judgments, motions, sentencing entries. |
| Family Court | Domestic and juvenile court. | Divorce, child support, custody, juvenile, adoption-related filings where public. |
| Probate Court | Estate, marriage, guardianship, conservatorship, and commitment court. | Marriage licenses, estates, wills, guardianship and conservatorship files. |
| Magistrate Court | Summary criminal, civil, warrant, bail, preliminary hearing, and traffic court. | Lower-level criminal cases, traffic matters, warrants, civil claims up to $7,500. |
| Municipal Court | Municipal ordinance and qualifying lower-level offenses inside city limits. | Manning and Summerton municipal cases, ordinance matters, some traffic cases. |
The state traffic ticket search is one of the statewide systems Clarendon County users may need when a traffic case is handled through a summary court.
Traffic ticket records may be searched by citation, license and state, or name and date of birth when the ticket is in the statewide system.
Clarendon County Court Offices
Clarendon County court work is split across a few official Manning locations. The main courthouse address is 102 South Mill Street for the Clarendon County Courthouse and Judicial Center. Probate and county administration use 411 Sunset Drive, and detention-related bond court activity is tied to 320 East Boyce Street. This split matters because a civil copy request, a marriage license, and a bond question do not go to the same counter.
The official Clarendon County homepage is the county-level starting point for department navigation and local government contact details.
County pages help separate court-related departments from general county administration before a visitor chooses the right office.
Clarendon County Courthouse
102 South Mill Street
Manning, SC 29102
Clerk: 803-435-4443
Detention and Bond Court
320 East Boyce Street
Manning, SC 29102
803-435-8831
Clarendon County Detention Center
Clarendon County Clerk Records
The Clarendon County Clerk of Court is the court-record hub for Common Pleas, General Sessions, and Family Court functions named by the county. The current Clerk is Hon. Shanita Brangman. Her office maintains Common Pleas case records, schedules jury and non-jury rosters, maintains Common Pleas judgments, and collects fine payments for General Sessions Court. Family Court contacts handle divorce proceedings, child support, and juvenile filing questions.
The Clarendon County Clerk of Court page states that criminal and civil copies may be requested in person, by mail, or by fax. The office lists a 24-hour turnaround for those channels, with more time possible when a file is not located in the courthouse. The Clerk also states that the office does not provide legal research, legal advice, or help completing court documents.
| Copy Item | Fee or Rule |
|---|---|
| Criminal or civil copies | $10.00 for the first 4 pages. |
| Additional pages | $0.25 per page after the first 4 pages. |
| Turnaround | 24 hours stated for in-person, mail, and fax requests, with extra time possible. |
| Public Defender application | $40.00 non-refundable fee, cash or money order only. |
Clarendon County Court Record Types
Clarendon County Court records include civil, criminal, family, probate, magistrate, municipal, traffic, appellate, and detention-related records. A court file is not the same thing as a jail booking record. A General Sessions case can include charges, pleas, motions, sentencing, fine payments, and dispositions. A detention record can include booking, intake, bond, release, property, and custody details.
Family Court records include divorce, child support, juvenile, custody, visitation, adoption, termination of parental rights, alimony, and marital property issues. Some Family Court records are restricted. Probate records include marriage licenses, estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, commitments, and minor settlements under $25,000.
- Disposition
- The result of a charge or case, such as dismissed, guilty plea, conviction, or other final action.
- Docket entry
- A dated event in a court file, such as a filing, hearing, order, motion, or judgment.
- Indictment
- A formal General Sessions criminal charging document.
- Redaction
- The removal or masking of protected details before a record is public.
Clarendon County Public Access Rules
Public access to Clarendon County Court records is broad, but it is not absolute. South Carolina public-record law, court rules, and privacy statutes all affect what can be viewed online, copied at the courthouse, or withheld from a public search. The practical starting point is the Judicial Branch online system. The fallback for copies is the Clerk's office for civil and criminal court files and the Sheriff's FOIA process for sheriff records that are not published online.
Key access rules:
S.C. FOIA Section 30-4-30 requires public records to be available for inspection and copying, subject to response timelines, costs, and limits.
S.C. FOIA Section 30-4-40 lists exemptions, including privacy interests and some law-enforcement harms.
Rule 41.1, SCRCP requires a motion and judicial balancing before civil court records are sealed.
Rule 41.2, SCRCP requires protected identifiers to be redacted from filings.
Clarendon County Restricted Records
Restricted Clarendon County Court records can include juvenile records, adoption records, sealed court files, expunged criminal records, protected personal identifying information, and some law-enforcement records. Rule 41.2 protects Social Security numbers, taxpayer IDs, account numbers, minor names, certain addresses, dates of birth except year, and other sensitive details. The Public Index address-redaction change also affects what appears online.
Expungement is a separate legal process. The South Carolina Judicial Branch describes it as removing a qualifying criminal conviction or charge from public access and sealing or destroying state records as allowed by law. General Sessions matters, juvenile matters, and Magistrate or Municipal cases have different routes, so the correct starting office depends on the court that handled the case.
Clarendon County Sheriff Records
The Clarendon County Sheriff's Office is at 217 Commerce Street in Manning, and Tim Baxley is listed as Sheriff. The Sheriff's Office is separate from the Clerk of Court, so sheriff reports, detention questions, and court case copies follow different paths. A criminal case record may show charges and disposition, while detention records focus on booking, custody, bond, release, and property procedures.
The official Clarendon County Sheriff's Office website provides office information and public links, but no official active-warrant database or county jail roster was located in the research sources. For local custody questions, the Detention Center lists booking and release phone numbers. For state prison custody, the South Carolina Department of Corrections search and SC VINE or VINELink are separate statewide tools.
The Sheriff's Office homepage is a source for agency-level contact and public-safety direction.
Sheriff records that are not published online may require the Sheriff's written FOIA process, subject to law-enforcement exemptions.
Clarendon County Probate and Magistrate
Magistrate Court handles summary criminal offenses, traffic matters within summary jurisdiction, bail, preliminary hearings, arrest and search warrants, and civil cases up to $7,500. The county magistrate page lists the Judicial Center at 102 South Mill Street and gives local phone numbers for Magistrate Court. These records can matter when a person is tracing a lower-level offense, a traffic case, a warrant, or an early criminal hearing.
Probate Court is a different office at 411 Sunset Drive Suite 1304. It handles marriage licenses, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, involuntary commitments, trusts, and certain minor settlements. The South Carolina probate search portal did not show Clarendon County in the inspected county selector, so local probate contact remains the practical route for Clarendon probate records.
The Clarendon County Magistrate Court page identifies the local lower-court role and contact channel.
Magistrate records can connect to warrants, bond hearings, preliminary hearings, and summary-level traffic or criminal matters.
The Clarendon County Probate Court page is the local source for probate officials, marriage-license fees, and probate contact details.
Probate Court is the local office for estate files and Clarendon County marriage-license records when state vital-record coverage does not apply.
Clarendon County Record Updates
Clarendon County Court records can change after a filing, hearing, plea, sentence, amended charge, dismissal, expungement, or sealing order. Online systems may show useful case data before a final certified copy is available. The county Clerk gives copy channels and fee rules, but the office does not provide research or legal advice. For questions about hearings or filings, the originating court office is the stronger source than a search result alone.
Clarendon County also has a notable e-filing history. The Judicial Branch courthouse profile says Clarendon County was selected as South Carolina's test county for the e-filing pilot program in 2016, and Shanita Brangman helped launch the first e-file and served as e-filing administrator before her election as Clerk of Court.
Note: Confirm court dates, bond status, and certified-copy needs with the court or office that created the record.
Clarendon County Court History
Clarendon County's court setting is tied to Manning's role as county seat. County history materials say the area was part of Craven County in 1682, became one of seven counties when Camden District was divided in 1785, and became Clarendon District in 1855. Manning was chartered in 1861 and named for John Laurence Manning, a South Carolina governor.
The county also identifies Briggs v. Elliott as local history. That case became one of the five cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education. County materials also note that Beulah Roberts began as the courthouse's third Black employee in 1976 and later became the first county-wide African American elected official and first female Clerk of Court in Clarendon County.
Clarendon County Court FAQ
Where do online Clarendon County Court records start?
Most online court searches start with the South Carolina Judicial Branch case records page and the Clarendon County Public Index. Family Court, traffic tickets, court rosters, and appellate C-Track records use separate state systems.
Who provides court record copies?
The Clerk of Court provides criminal and civil copies in person, by mail, or by fax. The office lists $10.00 for the first 4 pages and $0.25 for each extra page.
Are all Clarendon County Court records public?
No. Juvenile, adoption, sealed, expunged, protected identifier, and some law-enforcement records may be closed, redacted, or available only by court order.
Is there an online Clarendon County jail roster?
No official county jail roster was located in the research sources. The Detention Center booking and release phone numbers are the local fallback, while SCDC and VINE cover separate state custody needs.