Clerk of Court

Each county has a popularly elected Clerk of Court who serves a four-year term. The Clerk's Office is responsible for a wide variety of activities and duties governed by state law under the supervision of the SC Judicial Department, Court Administration.

The Clerk 's Office supports the work of the Court of General Sessions (criminal court), Court of Common Pleas (civil court) and the Family Court. For example, lawyers must file all pleadings and motions with the Clerk's Office. Judges rely on the Clerk of Court to provide them with all these documents and filings for the cases that they hear. In General Sessions (criminal) and Common Pleas (civil) Court, the Clerk's office provides information and assistance to prospective jurors and active juries. Examples of other duties include: receiving criminal warrants and transmission of them to the Solicitor; receiving bail; compiling trial lists; managing dockets of cases to be heard; staffing the courtroom while the court is in session; receiving fees, fines and costs; maintaining all court records; and submitting reports to a variety of state and federal agencies.

General Sessions\Circuit Court (Criminal)

• The Circuit Court is the State of South Carolina's court of general jurisdiction. It is divided into two types of court: the Court of Common Pleas which deals with civil matters, and the Court of General Sessions, which is the criminal court.
• The Circuit Court also has limited appellate jurisdiction over cases from probate court, magistrate court and municipal court. Circuit court judges are elected by the General Assembly to six year terms.
• Maintains records of criminal cases heard in General Sessions court. This includes sentence sheets, arrest warrants, tickets, bonds, indictments, and pleadings.
• Collects fine payments for General Sessions’s fines. We accept cash or money orders. No personal checks are accepted for fine payments.

Common Pleas (Civil)

• Responsible for accepting and maintaining all records of cases heard in Court of Common Pleas, which are civil disputes between parties.
• Prepare rosters for the upcoming terms of Common Pleas Court. The rosters may be viewed on line at http:\\www.judicial.state.sc.us\clerks\colleton\roster.cfm
• Maintains records of all judgments for Common Pleas Court

Family Court

• The Family Court has exclusive jurisdiction over all matters involving domestic or family relationships. The Family Court is the sole forum for the hearing of all cases concerning marital disputes, divorce, legal separation, custody, visitation rights, termination of parental rights, adoption, support, alimony, division of marital property, and change of name.
• The court also generally has exclusive jurisdiction over minors under the age of seventeen alleged to have violated any state law or municipal ordinance. Family Court judges are elected by the General Assembly to six year terms.

Juror Information

• The jury system in South Carolina involves both grand juries and petit juries. Grand juries decide whether or not to issue bills of indictments on charges brought before them. Petit Juries render verdicts in individual trials in Circuit Court. The Clerk of Court is responsible for summoning, venire preparations and compensation of jurors for the Circuit Court.
• Each juror will receive a juror summons. The bottom section of this summons must be completed and returned to the Clerk of Court’s office within two days after receipt. If a juror believes he or she should be disqualified, exempted or excused from jury duty he or she should state this on the juror response form and notify the Clerk of Court’s Office with this concern.

Passports

• TO OBTAIN A PASSPORT, YOU WILL NEED TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS UNDER “LINKS”

This Office does NOT do the following:

• Traffic Court and Tickets are handled by Summary Court.
• Scheduling of General Sessions Court is handled by the Solicitor’s Office.
• Marriage Licenses are issued and maintained by Probate Court.
• Deeds and other Land Transactions are handled by the Register of Deed’s Office.
• Tax Liens are maintained in the Register of Deed’s Office.
• Legal advice can only be given by an attorney or legal referral service (1-888-321-3644).