Lee County DUI Court Process

First-offense DUI charges in Lee County stay in Magistrate Court at 115 Gregg Street in Bishopville, presided over by Magistrates Shirley C. Davidson and Windi King. Felony DUI or repeat offenses move up to General Sessions instead. The Third Judicial Circuit, which covers Lee County, doesn't run its own DUI Treatment Court; those specialized programs are concentrated in neighboring Richland and Kershaw counties, so anyone hoping for that path has to petition the Third Circuit Solicitor's Office directly to see if regional eligibility applies.

Pretrial Intervention exists but doesn't reach the DUI charge itself, since South Carolina bars it outright for impaired driving. It only becomes an option if a defense attorney negotiates the DUI down to something eligible, like reckless driving, at which point that lesser charge can enter the diversion pipeline for a $100 application fee and a $250 participation fee.

Paying a fine here requires some care about which office and which method. Personal and business checks are rejected outright. In person, exact cash, a money order, or a credit card at the clerk's window all work; remotely, the state's online portal handles traffic and criminal payments, but phone payments are strictly forbidden and cash should never go through the mail. It's also worth knowing that the Magistrate Court on Gregg Street, which handles a standard first-offense DUI, is entirely separate from the county's main Clerk of Court office on South Main Street, which manages General Sessions and Family Court records instead. Filing paperwork at the wrong building wastes a trip. Masks are required for anyone attending a hearing inside the Magistrate courtroom, including traffic court and jury trials, and visitors may face a temperature check before entry.

South Carolina's unusual rule allowing arresting officers to prosecute their own DUI cases carries real weight here. An officer without formal legal training often struggles against a defense motion built around the state's strict video-recording requirements, uninterrupted footage of the incident scene, the field sobriety test, and the mandatory 20-minute observation period inside the breath-test room. Because every defendant has an absolute right to demand a jury trial in Magistrate Court, that demand is the most common tactic used to sidestep the officer-as-prosecutor dynamic entirely, often pushing the case toward a plea on a lesser charge rather than a full trial.

Sources

• Lee County Magistrate Office
• SC Judicial Branch Case Search