Access Dorchester County Clerk Records

Dorchester County Clerk of Court

Dorchester County uses a unified Clerk of Court structure for the court-record pages in this project. There is no separate county clerk or district clerk split. The primary clerk is the Clerk of Court, and the current clerk is Hon. Cheryl L. Graham. The official clerk biography says she was elected Dorchester County Clerk of Court on November 7, 2000, began service on January 1, 2001, has served in the Clerk's Office since 1977, and previously worked as Chief Deputy Clerk.

The Clerk of Court provides administrative support for the First Judicial Circuit Court and Family Court. That includes General Sessions, Common Pleas, Family, and Juvenile Court. Court records in Dorchester County are therefore split by case type and office function. Circuit civil and criminal matters point to the Clerk at the St. George courthouse, Family Court copies use the Summerville Family Court channel, Probate records use Probate Court, and Magistrate or Municipal matters may be in lower-court systems.

Dorchester Clerk Court Duties

The Clerk's Office is the administrative hub for several Dorchester County court functions, but it does not hold every public record in the county. General Sessions is the criminal side of Circuit Court. The Clerk accepts and maintains warrants and posts bonds for General Sessions matters. Common Pleas is the civil side of Circuit Court. The Clerk maintains civil-case paperwork and schedules jury trials, non-jury trials, and motions.

Family Court records are also supported by the Clerk structure, but the county gives Family Court its own copy request channel at 212 Deming Way in Summerville. Family Court work includes records involving domestic and family relationships, hearing schedules, child support processing and disbursement, and hearings for past-due child support. Juvenile Court paperwork is maintained by the office as well, but public access is limited because juvenile records are confidential under South Carolina law.

• General Sessions criminal case support, including warrants and bonds.
• Common Pleas civil case paperwork and trial or motion scheduling.
• Family Court record maintenance, hearing scheduling, and child-support processing.
• Juvenile Court paperwork and Department of Juvenile Justice hearing scheduling.
• Copy and records routing for case files held by the Clerk's Office.

Request Dorchester Certified Copies

A certified court copy is usually needed when a person must prove the content of a court order, judgment, disposition, decree, or filed document outside the courthouse. Dorchester County research did not locate a standalone Clerk-specific certified-copy fee schedule for Circuit Court records, so requesters should verify the exact Clerk fee before ordering. The copy path still starts with identifying the case type and the office that holds it.

1. Search the Dorchester Public Index when a public case number or party lookup is available.
2. Identify whether the record is General Sessions, Common Pleas, Family Court, Probate Court, Magistrate Court, or Municipal Court.
3. Contact the Clerk, Criminal Clerk, Civil Clerk, or Family Court copy channel with the case number, parties, document name, and copy type needed.
4. Ask whether the file is archived, whether certification is available, and what fee applies before mailing payment or appearing in person.
5. Use the county FOIA channel only as a fallback for county public records that are not available through the court-specific record channel.

Records Request Form Fields

Dorchester County routes general public-record requests through the NextRequest portal or by mail to the FOIA Coordinator and County Attorney's Office at 500 N. Main St., Summerville, SC 29483. Court records should first be requested from the office that maintains the case file, but the county FOIA inventory is still useful when a request concerns non-court county records or when the source office directs a requester there.

Dorchester County Clerk Fees

The county FOIA page publishes paper copy fees and response timing. The research also identifies Family Court copy fees and Probate copy fees, while noting a research gap for a standalone Clerk certified/plain copy fee schedule for Circuit Court records. The fee table therefore separates documented county copy charges from court-specific charges that must be verified with the Clerk when a certified Circuit Court copy is needed.

County FOIA timing also depends on record age. Dorchester County says to allow a minimum of 10 business days for records two years old or less and 20 business days for records more than two years old, excluding weekends and observed holidays. The county also warns that public records may not be obtained or used for commercial solicitation directed to a person in South Carolina under SC Code 30-2-50 et seq.

Dorchester Clerk Record Channels

Dorchester County court records are not requested from one universal desk. The right channel depends on court level. The Clerk of Court is the in-person channel for Circuit, Common Pleas, and General Sessions records at the St. George courthouse. Family Court copies use the Family Court office at 212 Deming Way. Probate records use Probate Court and the SC Probate portal. Magistrate records use Magistrate Court or the Public Index where indexed.

• Dorchester Public Index for public Circuit and Magistrate case searching where indexed.
• Family Court records requests for copies requested in person or in writing.
• South Carolina Probate search for probate and marriage-license searching and copy purchase options.
• Dorchester County FOIA request instructions for general county public-record requests.

Clerk Contacts by Record Type

Direct phone routing can save time because Dorchester County lists separate numbers for Clerk functions. The main Clerk number is (843) 563-0160. The Criminal Clerk is (843) 563-0231, and the Civil Clerk is (843) 563-0108. Jury Coordinator questions use (843) 563-5784. Family Court uses (843) 832-0360. Those distinctions match the county's split among General Sessions, Common Pleas, Family, and jury functions.

For a criminal case file, use the Criminal Clerk or the Public Index first. For a civil lawsuit, use the Civil Clerk and Public Index. For a divorce decree, use the Family Court copy channel, since South Carolina DPH reports are not decrees. For estate files, use the Probate Court portal or Probate Court mail request. For Master-in-Equity matters, the county states that all Master-in-Equity records are maintained by the Clerk of Court, so the Clerk is the records office even though the Master-in-Equity has a separate court function.

Note: Circuit Court is Dorchester County's resolved primary trial court for the project map.