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

1. Arrest and booking

A DUI arrest in Beaufort County can be made by Beaufort Police, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, the S.C. Highway Patrol, or the police in Port Royal or Bluffton. On the water, officers from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources also enforce the boating law; see the BUI guide. The agency matters, because it usually decides which court hears the case (step 4). The county jail is the Beaufort County Detention Center at 100 Ribaut Road in Beaufort. If you are trying to find someone, call (843) 255-5200; the county's website has an inmate inquiry system.

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.

Bond is set at the detention center. Beaufort County says bond hearings are held at the detention center twice a day; ask at the front desk when a person's hearing will be. Bonds must be posted at the detention center, and for someone being held, the money is deposited into that person's inmate account.

Refunds. The county says bond refunds are mailed between the 1st and 10th of the month after your court date, so make sure the court has your correct mailing address.

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 Beaufort County, General Sessions cases are prosecuted by the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office, with an office in the Beaufort County Courthouse.

Beaufort County's magistrates sit at two central courts: Central Court North at 104 Ribaut Road in Beaufort and Central Court South at 4819 Bluffton Parkway in Bluffton.

If the arrest was in Jasper County

Hardeeville, Ridgeland, and the U.S. 278 and I-95 corridor west of Bluffton are in Jasper County, and a case that starts there stays in that county. People arrested there are held at the Jasper County Detention Center off I-95 at Exit 22 until bond is set. First-offense cases are usually heard in Jasper County's Central Traffic Court or by its magistrates in Ridgeland and Hardeeville, or by a city court for a city arrest; your ticket shows which. Second and later offenses and felony DUI go to General Sessions at the Jasper County Courthouse, 265 Russell Street, Ridgeland. Jasper County is in the same Fourteenth Judicial Circuit as Beaufort County, so the same solicitor's office prosecutes. The DMV deadline and everything after a conviction are the same, because those rules are state law. Addresses and phone numbers are under Jasper 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 Beaufort County the office is the Fourteenth Circuit Public Defender, 1905 Duke Street, Suite 210, Beaufort, SC 29902, (843) 255-5000.

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.

Beaufort Municipal Court says jury trials are normally scheduled quarterly; call 843-525-7036 for dates.

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 Nexus Care of Beaufort County in Beaufort (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.