Horry County DUI Guide

A Mothers Against Drunk Driving court-monitoring study tracked 1,331 finalized DUI cases in Horry County between January 2019 and March 2024 and found a conviction rate of just 31%. That's not a lack of enforcement — the county logged 802 DUI arrests in 2024 alone — it's a structural feature of how South Carolina makes officers prove these cases.

Why So Many Cases Fall Apart

State law requires continuous video recording from the initial stop through field sobriety testing, the roadside Miranda warning, and the breath test back at the jail. Any gap in that footage — camera loses the suspect's feet during the walk-and-turn, audio drops during the rights advisement — routinely gets evidence suppressed or the case dismissed. Layer on South Carolina's officer-as-prosecutor system, where the arresting officer argues the case personally in magistrate court rather than a trained solicitor, and a defendant who demands a jury trial gains real leverage: if that officer transfers, resigns, or simply misses the trial date during the resulting delay — not uncommon given regional law enforcement turnover — the state loses its only witness and the case gets dismissed outright.

Enforcement itself is heavy and predictable. The Horry County Police Department (the only county-level police department in South Carolina), the Sheriff's Office, Highway Patrol Troop 5, and the Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway police departments all patrol the county, concentrating checkpoints on U.S. 17 near the beach corridor, U.S. 501, and SC-9, plus the nightlife strip along Ocean Boulevard and the streets around Coastal Carolina University in Conway. Patrols intensify hardest during peak tourist season, spring break, and the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and New Year's stretches, mostly between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Getting Your Car Back

There's no single impound lot — Horry County runs a rotating wrecker list, and Myrtle Beach city police work under their own municipal towing franchise (base fees running around $200). If you don't know where your car ended up, call the county's non-emergency dispatch line for HCPD-directed tows, or contact SCHP Troop 5 directly if a state trooper made the stop. Standard rotation tows are capped by the state at a $272 flat fee and $47 a day in storage.

One thing worth knowing before you're in cuffs: South Carolina law lets you request your own preferred towing service — an "Owner Request" — as long as the vehicle isn't a road hazard or evidence, and officers generally have to honor it. That single choice can save hundreds of dollars in storage fees and skip the entire dispatch-log hunt to find your car later.

If your case involves a secondary issue — a significant drug find, a serious collision — the vehicle goes to the Horry County Police Department's own evidentiary lot at the M.L. Brown Public Safety Building instead of a private yard, and that facility only releases property Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment. A car seized Friday evening can't be retrieved before the following Tuesday at the earliest. There's also a background check requirement at that specific facility: if you have outstanding warrants, showing up in person to claim your car risks immediate arrest, so an authorized representative with power of attorney is the safer move in that situation.

Booking and Bond

Everyone lands at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway. A standard first-offense DUI bond runs roughly $1,022 to $1,224.50, tied to the statutory maximum fine, and Personal Recognizance release is common when there's no collision or unusually high BAC involved. If you're posting a cash bond, bring the exact amount — the Magistrate's Office won't make change — and personal checks aren't accepted at all; money orders, cashier's checks, and cards are fine.

Horry County has a "Cash and Dash" option that lets some minor bondable offenses skip a magistrate appearance entirely by paying the fine amount up front. DUI doesn't qualify — it requires a formal court appearance regardless of how quickly you'd like to resolve it. Bond hearings themselves run on a fixed schedule, typically 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. (sometimes 3:30 p.m.), not continuously. Book in at 10:30 a.m. and you've missed the morning docket; you're waiting for the afternoon session. If the arrest stemmed from a collision involving injury or property damage, state law requires Victim Services to notify the victim before the hearing can proceed — a real source of extra delay if that person isn't immediately reachable.

Court and the Diversion Trap

Standard misdemeanor DUIs from Highway Patrol or HCPD start in the Horry County Centralized Magistrate Court, 1201 3rd Avenue in Conway. Demanding a jury trial shifts the case to the Solicitor's Magistrate Court Division; repeat offenses or DUIs involving serious injury escalate to General Sessions. Pre-Trial Intervention exists in Horry County, but a standard DUI charge is explicitly ineligible for it under state law — it only becomes an option if defense counsel first negotiates the charge down to something like reckless driving.

Courthouse rules here are unforgiving. Phones aren't allowed in the courtroom at all; if one goes off, expect confiscation and a $25 fee to get it back. Security is airport-style — metal detectors, X-ray screening — and the dress code bans shorts, tank tops, flip-flops, and sweatpants. Showing up dressed wrong can mean denied entry and a failure-to-appear bench warrant, so business casual is the safe default.

The License Suspension Clock

Refusing the breath test triggers an automatic six-month suspension; testing at 0.15% BAC or above triggers a 30-day suspension. Either way, you have exactly 30 days from the Notice of Suspension to file a contested hearing request with the South Carolina Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings in Columbia, along with a $200 fee — and that fee has to be a cashier's check or money order. A personal check gets rejected outright, and if that rejection eats into your 30-day window, the suspension locks in regardless of the outcome in criminal court. Filing the hearing request doesn't restore your driving privileges by itself; you have to separately apply for a Temporary Alcohol License for an additional $100 to keep driving while the hearing is pending.

One tactic worth knowing about: at the OMVH hearing, the defense can subpoena the arresting officer and the breath-test operator to testify. If either fails to show — common enough given shift changes and staff turnover — the state can't meet its burden, and the hearing officer typically reinstates the license by default.

Ignition Interlock and Monitoring

As of May 19, 2024, South Carolina requires an ignition interlock device to clear a DUI, DUAC, or felony DUI suspension. A few installers serve the county: ADS Ignition Interlock operates out of a West Tire & Auto location on Pine Island Road in Myrtle Beach, Simple Interlock has a dedicated office on Lichen Court, and Smart Start covers the broader Myrtle Beach region. If a magistrate orders continuous alcohol monitoring instead, a regional monitoring provider handles the ankle-bracelet hardware and GPS tracking for the coastal area. A conviction also brings the SR-22 high-risk insurance filing requirement, which any local agent who handles high-risk placements can process on your behalf.

Mandatory Treatment

Any DUI or DUAC conviction, or a license suspended under Implied Consent, requires enrolling in South Carolina's Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program within 30 days. In Horry County, that runs through the county's designated behavioral health provider in Conway, with walk-in intake Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Friday mornings — no Thursday hours. The baseline educational fee is $500, built around a structured curriculum aimed at high-risk drinking behavior. Given how many of the county's DUI arrests involve out-of-state tourists, the provider also coordinates compliance reporting back to a defendant's home-state DMV, so an out-of-state visitor doesn't have to relocate to finish the program.