South Carolina, county records
Find the right office in Dorchester County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.
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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
County court
The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina offers ECF and PACER access to federal case records, plus transcripts, forms and juror information. State cases are kept by the South Carolina Judicial Branch.
Open official site South Carolina Federal CasesState records
Search property and claim status by individual name or business through the state treasurer.
Open official site South Carolina Unclaimed PropertyVital records
The South Carolina Department of Public Health Vital Records office issues certified birth certificates for births in the state since 1915 to the registrant, parents or legal guardians.
Open official site South Carolina Birth RecordsState records
Find active and inactive corporations by name from the SC Secretary of State.
Open official site South Carolina Business & Corporation SearchVital records
The South Carolina Department of Public Health issues certified death certificates to immediate family or their legal representatives. Others can get a statement confirming the date and county of death.
Open official site South Carolina Death RecordsVital records
The South Carolina Department of Public Health holds marriage records from July 1950 through 2025. Licenses from other years come from the county Probate Court that issued them.
Open official site South Carolina Marriage SearchEverything else, organized
1 more Dorchester County source not listed above.
Local record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Dorchester County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement services in the unincorporated areas of Dorchester County.
Police Departments. In addition to Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, law enforcement services in Dorchester County are provided by several municipal police departments.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, led by the elected Sheriff, is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of Dorchester County. George, SC 29477, and can be contacted through the office’s website. Dorchester County Detention Center, located at 500 Central Avenue, Summerville, SC 29483, houses inmates arrested within Dorchester County. Inmate lookup is available through the Sheriff's Office website, providing current custody status, booking photos (mugshots), charges, and bond information.
Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
212 Deming Way, Box 9, Summerville, SC 29483 • Phone: (843) 832-0300
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 32 named mine sites inside the county, 8 of them worked out or abandoned; the old survey maps add 27 holes drawn inside the county, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Clay.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. No abandoned mine inventory is published.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Straight answers
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Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Dorchester County Sheriff or a city police department in Dorchester County. Ask that agency for its record. Under S.C. Code 17-1-60 no one may charge a fee to remove, revise or not post arrest and booking records, booking photographs included, and a publisher must remove them free within 30 days of a certified mail request showing the charges were discharged, dismissed or expunged or the person was found not guilty; the section does not apply to state or local government agencies.
The South Carolina criminal history record comes from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Search South Carolina criminal records by name online through SLED CATCH (Citizens Access to Criminal Histories), or mail the SLED CATCH form. Fee: $25.00 ($8.00 for qualifying charitable organizations); online requests add a service fee.
Search the South Carolina Public Sex Offender Registry (SLED), or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Register with the county board of voter registration or through the South Carolina Election Commission. You can also register online with the state online registration. You must be registered at least 30 days before an election to vote in it; mailed applications must be postmarked at least 30 days before.
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Dorchester County are kept by the Dorchester County register of deeds. Property values are set by the county assessor, and tax bills come from the county treasurer. Source: official state page.
Certified birth and death certificates for South Carolina come from the South Carolina Department of Public Health, Vital Records. All Vital Records offices, the state office in Columbia and the regional offices, can issue birth certificates from any county in South Carolina. Online through the approved vendors VitalChek or GoCertificates, by phone through VitalChek at 1-877-284-1008, by mail to S.C. Department of Public Health, Vital Records Section, P.O. Box 2046, West Columbia, SC 29171, or in person at the state office, 2600 Bull St., Columbia, or a regional office. Fee: $12 search fee by mail, including one certified copy ($17 expedited search fee online, by phone or in person); $3 for each additional copy.
Business entity filings are searched with the South Carolina Secretary of State. There is no statewide business license in South Carolina; each county and municipality may administer its own local business license, and most do.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.