Arrest Records in Union County
A Union County arrest creates several records. The officer's agency prepares the incident and arrest report with the time, place, legal basis, alleged offenses, and narrative. At intake, the Union County Detention Center records identity and custody facts, takes fingerprints, and assigns the person within the facility. Covered fingerprints and identifying data then go to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division under S.C. Code §23-3-120.
The Magistrate or Bond Court creates the first judicial entries and bond terms. The Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor and the court later create filed charges, hearings, and a disposition. Those later charges may not match the first allegation. The detention record is strongest for custody; the officer report supplies the event narrative; the court file answers what happened to the charge; SLED CATCH compiles reported South Carolina history.
Union County Zuercher Arrest Search
The free Union County Zuercher custody portal is the official first stop for recent booking and custody facts. It requires no login. Search by name or use arrest date, "In Custody On," release date, held-for agency, race, sex, or cell-block controls. Dynamic dropdown choices can change, so use only the labels shown in the live portal.
The official portal shown below supports several ways to find a Union County booking without relying on an unofficial daily log.
Results can identify custody dates, holding agency, and release information. They do not replace the incident narrative or prove the outcome of a charge.
| Search Field | Best Use | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Known-person search | Spelling and aliases can affect results |
| Arrest Date | Find intake on one date | Exact-date control |
| In Custody On | Historical custody-date check | Does not show the full case result |
| Release Date | Find releases on a date | Release is not a disposition |
| Held For Agency | Separate sheriff, city, or other holds | Agency does not decide guilt |
Union County Arrest Lookups
Use every relevant channel because no single Union County arrest record contains the whole event and outcome. The live portal may lag, municipal cases may not appear in the county court index, and CATCH is not a real-time blotter. Begin with the booking source, then follow the record to the arresting agency and correct court.
- Search the Union County Zuercher portal by name, arrest date, custody date, held-for agency, or release date.
- Call the Union County Detention Center at 864-429-2818 to confirm same-day custody, spelling, and the agency responsible for the hold.
- Request the incident or arrest narrative from the sheriff, City of Union Public Safety, Jonesville Police, Highway Patrol, or SLED unit that created it.
- Search the Union County Public Index after a case is filed. Call Union or Jonesville Municipal Court when a summary city case is absent.
- Use SLED CATCH for a paid statewide South Carolina history. It excludes wanted-person and registry checks and may not yet show a recent arrest or disposition.
- Submit a narrow written FOIA request when the public display omits a releasable report or booking field.
Union County Detention Center
1657 Jonesville Highway
Union, SC 29379
864-429-2818
Fax: 864-429-2819
Union County Sheriff
200 East Main Street
Union, SC 29379
864-429-1612
Fax: 864-429-1628
Union County Arrest Agency Routes
The agency that made the arrest remains the source for its narrative. Union County Sheriff records route through the sheriff and county FOIA process. City of Union Public Safety is at 215 Thompson Boulevard and uses the City FOIA form through City Hall. Jonesville Police is at 131 North Main Street. A Highway Patrol arrest routes through SCDPS FOIA, while a collision report itself uses the SCDMV FR-50 path.
| Agency | Record Route | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Union County Sheriff | County FOIA form or sheriff contact | 864-429-1612 |
| City of Union Public Safety | City FOIA through City Hall | 864-429-1713 |
| Jonesville Police | Town request by phone or counter | 864-674-5262 |
| SC Highway Patrol | SCDPS FOIA; FR-50 for collision report | FOIA@scdps.gov |
| SLED state units | SLED FOIA or CJIS route | 864-467-8111 regional |
The creator can redact victim details, juvenile information, active-investigation material, medical data, or protected identifiers. A paper incident report and body-camera footage also have different access rules.
City of Union requests use a published form sent through City Hall. The city lists a $5 minimum response cost, copies at $0.20 per page, and search, retrieval, or redaction labor at $20 per hour. A 25 percent deposit may apply when the work appears likely to exceed five hours. Jonesville has no comparable online form in the research, so a narrow phone or counter request is the documented route. These city channels matter when the sheriff did not create the arrest report.
Arrest Records: What They Contain
Union County arrest records change as information moves from the officer to the jail, court, and SLED repository. A public custody result may show fewer details than the internal intake file. Do not assume an unlisted bond amount, warrant number, court date, or statute is available in the portal when the official interface has not confirmed it.
| Incident | Date, time, place, report number, officer, narrative, alleged offense, and evidence or witness data subject to redaction. |
|---|---|
| Booking | Name and demographics, intake image, fingerprint transaction, arrest date, holding agency, cell block, charge or hold, and release date when displayed. |
| Custody | Current or past custody markers, facility assignment, held-for agency, and release information. |
| Court | Case number, filed charge, bond and event history, counsel, disposition, and sentence. |
| Repository | Fingerprint-supported arrest cycle and a reported court disposition when SLED receives and matches it. |
Union County Booking to Bond
After intake, Union County Magistrate or Bond Court creates the first judicial record. County material states that magistrates hold bond hearings twice daily and also conduct preliminary hearings for matters moving toward General Sessions. Bond terms concern release while the case proceeds. They do not decide guilt.
The official Magistrate and Bond Court directory shown below is the source for current court routing.
Use the directory and the court's 864-429-1648 line to confirm which judicial office created a bond or preliminary-hearing record.
Record flow: Arrest Report › Booking › Fingerprint Submission › Bond Proceeding › Filed Charge › Disposition
Recent Union County Bookings
Union County has no separate verified official daily booking log beyond the configurable Zuercher search. Use Arrest Date for intake on a known day. "In Custody On" can test whether someone was held on a past date, while Release Date can locate entries that have moved out of current custody. Agency releases and social posts cover selected events only and cannot substitute for the official system.
The official detention center source describes the local facility and its role in county and city custody.
The center's average of about 100 county and city detainees describes operations, not rated capacity. It includes pretrial detainees and short local sentences.
County custody is separate from a South Carolina Department of Corrections sentence. SCDC Inmate Search covers people currently sentenced to and held by SCDC as of the prior midnight. It excludes released people, county-detention sentences, and community supervision. If a Union County booking later leads to state prison, the person can move out of Zuercher's current local view and into SCDC's system. Probation or parole belongs in the SCDPPPS search instead.
Note: Absence from a current Union County custody result does not prove that no earlier arrest or booking occurred.
Union County Arrest Report Requests
When the custody result lacks the officer narrative, submit a narrow written request to the agency that created it. State the incident date or range, location, arresting agency, report or booking number when known, record types, preferred format, and contact information. Ask for an advance estimate and a specific exemption for any withheld portion. Union County has not posted a stable sheriff fee amount, so do not import another county's rate.
Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, the initial determination is generally due within ten business days for records no more than 24 months old and twenty business days for older records. That response is not always production. A public body may require up to a 25 percent deposit. Older production can have a longer statutory window.
Body-worn camera video does not follow the same rule as a paper arrest report. S.C. Code §23-1-240 states that the recordings are not automatically public records under FOIA. Specified people may request them, and court process can govern access. Ask for the incident report first when the goal is the basic narrative, then use the video-specific route only when the law permits it.
The SLED FOIA request route shown below applies to SLED-held administrative or investigative material, not local sheriff files or a paid CATCH report.
SLED publishes scanning and redaction labor at $20 per hour. Send local requests to the local custodian instead.
Arrest Records vs Conviction Records
An arrest shows that an agency took a person into custody or initiated an arrest process based on an allegation. A conviction comes from a court judgment after a guilty plea or verdict. The Union County booking entry can remain historically important even if the prosecutor changes the charge, declines it, or the court dismisses it. Read the later court disposition before describing the outcome.
| Arrest Record | Conviction Record |
|---|---|
| Created by arresting agency and detention center | Created by the court |
| Shows allegation, intake, and custody | Shows a judgment of guilt |
| Lives with sheriff, police, or booking system | Lives with clerk and reported state repository data |
| May end with release, no prosecution, or dismissal | May lead to sentence, appeal, pardon, or eligible expungement relief |
Note: An arrest is not proof of guilt; verify the Union County court disposition before relying on the allegation.
Why Recent Union Arrests May Lag
SLED CATCH is a statewide South Carolina name-based criminal-history product, not a live Union County arrest feed. Covered fingerprint submissions from law enforcement and detention facilities support the repository, but the arrest cycle and later disposition must be transmitted and matched. SLED has acknowledged gaps in disposition reporting. A recent event may therefore appear first in Zuercher and the court system.
CATCH costs $25 plus the posted $1.43 online service charge effective July 1, 2026. A mail request avoids the online charge. It does not include wanted-person data or the sex offender registry. Use the Union County court case lookup for pleadings, events, and final outcome, and use CATCH for the broader South Carolina repository view.