Charleston County DUI Bail Information
Understanding bail amounts, the release process, and what happens after a DUI arrest in Charleston County.
How Bail Bonds Work
Option 1: Cash Bond (Pay Full Amount)
How it works: Pay the full bail amount to the court
Pros: Get full amount back after case concludes (minus court fees)
Cons: Requires full amount upfront
Option 2: Bail Bondsman (Most Common)
How it works: Pay 10-15% fee to bondsman, they post full bail
Cost: Typically 10% of bail amount (non-refundable)
Pros: Only need 10% upfront instead of full amount
Cons: Fee is non-refundable, may require collateral, co-signer assumes liability
Co-Signer Liability Warning
Important for Co-Signers:
- You are 100% liable if defendant does not appear in court
- You must pay the full bail amount if defendant skips
- Bondsman can seize collateral (house, car, etc.)
- You cannot cancel the bond - only the court can
- Liability continues until case is fully resolved
Release Timeline
Arrest & Booking (2-8 hours)
Fingerprinting, photographing, background check, medical screening
Arraignment (Within 24-48 hours)
First court appearance, judge sets bail amount, charges are read
Bail Posted (1-4 hours)
Family contacts bondsman, paperwork signed, fee paid
Release (2-6 hours)
Processing, release paperwork, return of personal property, court date assigned
Total Time Estimate
From arrest to release: 12-48 hours depending on booking workload, time of arrest (weekends take longer), and how quickly bail is posted.
After Release: Critical Deadlines
1. Request MVD Hearing - 30 Days
You have only 30 days from arrest to request your administrative license hearing. This is separate from your criminal case.
2. Retrieve Your Vehicle
Impound fees accrue daily. Get your car as soon as possible to avoid hundreds in storage fees.
Calculate Impound Costs3. Contact a Bail Bondsman
Need fast release in Charleston County? Contact a verified 24/7 Bail Bondsman to start the release process immediately.
Find a Bondsman4. Appear at ALL Court Dates
Missing court will result in bond forfeiture, arrest warrant, and additional charges. Your co-signer will be liable for the full bail amount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cash isn't accepted anywhere inside the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. Families have to deposit funds through a third-party digital kiosk (JailATM or Securus) or go through a licensed bail bondsman, and inmates themselves aren't allowed to hold U.S. currency at all. Booking itself is slow before any of that matters — 3 to 6 hours typically pass between the transport van reaching the sally port and a defendant being fully entered into the jail system, partly because South Carolina requires the evidentiary breath test to run inside a video-recorded room with a mandatory 20-minute observation period first.
Charleston County does something few others in the state do: it generates a Pretrial Services Report on every defendant and guarantees a public defender is physically present at the very first bond hearing for anyone indigent, defined loosely as carrying less than $500 in cash at arrest. Defendants who score "Level 1," the group least likely to skip court, are overwhelmingly released on personal recognizance with no money down for a standard first-offense DUI. That institutional defense presence at the earliest possible stage cuts down significantly on how often first-time offenders end up needing a commercial bondsman at all.
Release doesn't run on demand, either. The Central Bond Hearing court convenes exactly three times on a weekday — 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m. — and drops the evening slot on weekends. Finish booking at 10:15 a.m. and the next opportunity is 2 p.m., not a moment sooner. Shift changes compound the wait: the Processing Division works 12.25-hour rotating shifts, and inmate movement and paperwork freeze entirely while one crew hands off to the next.
Phone access has its own trap. New inmates get a handful of free local calls right after booking, but everything after that runs through a collect-call system managed by Securus. If a family's cell carrier blocks collect calls, as many prepaid and some postpaid plans do by default, the defendant is cut off from the outside until someone sets up a prepaid Securus account.
A cluster of bail bond agencies operates 24/7 near the detention center on Leeds Avenue in North Charleston, ready to post a surety bond for defendants who don't qualify for personal recognizance and can't cover a cash bond outright.