Kershaw County DUI Bail Information

Kershaw County actually processes low-risk defendants faster than most of its neighbors. Recent pretrial data shows 75.4% of low-risk inmates booked into the county detention center are released within 24 hours, with only 7% held longer than a week, a real contrast to the bottlenecks seen at larger nearby facilities like Richland County's Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Knowing the hearing schedule is what actually determines whether a family lands on the fast side of that statistic.

Which schedule applies depends entirely on who made the arrest. Camden Police Department arrests go before City Judges, who hold hearings daily from 7:30 to 8 a.m. and again from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sheriff's Office or Highway Patrol arrests go before County Magistrates instead, Monday through Friday at 8 a.m., and every day of the week from 4 to 5 p.m. Missing either window means waiting for the next one, no exceptions. For a standard first offense, South Carolina caps bond at the maximum fine for the charge, generally $400 to $1,000, and a magistrate can grant personal recognizance release with no cash required for a cooperative, first-time defendant with no aggravating circumstances.

The facility's shift changes at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. freeze inmate movement and release processing for 60 to 120 minutes while the incoming crew completes mandatory headcounts. If a magistrate sets bond at the 4 p.m. hearing, getting the paperwork finished before that 7 p.m. lockdown matters, or the release slides into the next shift entirely.

Once released, getting away from the facility is entirely the defendant's own responsibility, and families picking someone up need to park only in designated visitor spaces. A vehicle left in a staff or law enforcement area, especially during a shift change, risks being towed itself.