How a DUI case moves through Richland County, step by step

1. Arrest and booking

A DUI arrest in Richland County can be made by Columbia Police, the Richland County Sheriff's Department, the S.C. Highway Patrol, USC police on campus, or the police in towns such as Forest Acres. The agency matters, because it usually decides which court hears the case (step 4). The county jail is the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on John Mark Dial Drive, run by Richland County. If you are trying to find someone, the county's online detainee lookup or the detention center at 803-576-3200 can help.

Columbia sits on both sides of the river. Arrests on the Lexington County side, including West Columbia, Cayce, and parts of the city itself, are booked at the Lexington County Detention Center on Gibson Road in Lexington and go through Lexington County's courts.

If you were asked to take a breath test, the officer also gave you paperwork about it. If you refused or blew 0.15 or more, one of those papers is a Notice of Suspension, and its 30-day clock is already running (step 3).

2. The bond hearing

South Carolina law requires a bond hearing within 24 hours of the arrest for any bailable offense, and release within a reasonable time, no more than four hours, after the bond is delivered to the jail.

The starting point under state law is release on your own recognizance, with no money up front. A judge can instead require a bond with a surety, place you in someone's custody, or set travel or other conditions if the judge decides that is needed to make sure you return to court or to protect the public. In deciding, the court can consider your ties to the area, employment, financial resources, record, and history of missing court dates.

Richland County bond court is inside the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. The county says magistrates hold bond hearings four times a day, and that Bond Court is open 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. It accepts only cash, money orders, or cashier's checks. Call 803-576-3281 to confirm a time.

Columbia city arrests. Columbia's municipal judges hold bond court for city cases from the Richland County part of the city at the detention center every day at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., and for city cases from the Lexington County part at Municipal Court, 811 Washington Street, at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

If a money bond is set that you cannot cover, a licensed bondsman can post it for a fee. The bail guide explains what state law allows a bondsman to charge.

3. The DMV deadline

If you received a Notice of Suspension, you have 30 days from the date it was issued to request a contested case hearing with the S.C. Office of Motor Vehicle Hearings and get a temporary alcohol license. This happens on a separate track from your court case and does not wait for it. The DMV hearing guide explains how to file.

4. Which court will hear the case

Your ticket or warrant lists the court and the first date. As a rule of thumb:

State law lets a first-offense DUI be tried in magistrate court. Higher offenses carry penalties beyond what magistrate and municipal courts can impose, so they start in General Sessions. The solicitor can ask to move a case carrying up to $5,500 or a year to a lower court, but must tell the defendant, who can object. In Richland County, General Sessions cases are prosecuted by the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office, at 1701 Main Street.

The Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office lists a DUI Treatment Court among its programs, at 803-576-1836. We could not confirm its eligibility rules from the office's website, so ask your lawyer or the office whether it could apply to your case.

If the arrest was in Lexington County

West Columbia, Cayce, Lexington, Chapin, and much of Irmo are in Lexington County, and a case that starts there stays in that county. Bond is set at Lexington County Bond Court at the county jail on Gibson Road. Lexington County runs its own DUI Court, a magistrate court in the Summary Court Center at 139 East Main Street in Lexington, along with a central traffic court and magistrate districts in Cayce-West Columbia, Irmo, and elsewhere; your ticket shows which one has your case. Second and later offenses and felony DUI go to General Sessions at the Lexington County Judicial Center, 205 East Main Street, where the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor prosecutes. The DMV deadline and everything after a conviction are the same, because those rules are state law. Addresses and phone numbers are under Lexington County on the local resources page.

5. A lawyer, or a public defender

You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, you can apply for a public defender. State law (S.C. Code § 17-3-30) sets a $40 application fee, collected by the clerk of court, which the clerk can waive or reduce if you cannot pay it. In Richland County the office is the Fifth Circuit Public Defender, 1701 Main Street, Suite 103, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-2592.

Apply as early as you can. Waiting on an appointment does not pause the 30-day DMV deadline, and you still have to appear on every date in your bond paperwork. For choosing a private attorney, see the DUI lawyer guide.

6. Trial, plea, or dismissal

A DUI case ends in a dismissal, a plea, or a trial. Pretrial intervention is not available for DUI or DUAC charges under state law.

You have a right to a jury trial. In magistrate court the jury is six people. Ask the court on your ticket how and when to request a jury trial, because entering a plea generally gives up that right.

Columbia Municipal Court takes jury trial requests at its Violations Division during business hours, and its jury trials line is 803-545-3169.

The possible penalties by offense and BAC level are in the penalties guide.

7. After a conviction

A conviction sets off several requirements, roughly in this order:

1. ADSAP enrollment, the state's alcohol and drug program, through LRADAC in Columbia (ADSAP guide)
2. The ignition interlock program, which is how every offender ends the license suspension (interlock guide)
3. SR-22 proof of insurance, filed by your insurer with the DMV (SR-22 guide)
4. License reinstatement through the DMV once the requirements are met

If you live outside South Carolina, the out-of-state guide explains how these steps reach your home state.