Horry County Magistrate Court

What Horry County Magistrate Court Handles

Magistrate Court is a summary court. It moves fast. It deals with smaller matters. In Horry County the magistrate handles both civil and criminal work, but only up to set limits. On the civil side, a magistrate can hear money claims up to $7,500. On the criminal side, the magistrate takes lower-level charges. Those carry small fines or short jail terms. The court also does the back-end work that keeps the bigger system moving, like setting bail and signing warrants.

State law sets the magistrate's powers. The state judiciary explains the role on its Magistrate Court page. Magistrates are appointed, not elected. They serve a fixed term. The job mixes civil and criminal duties under one roof. Here is the core work a Horry County magistrate does.

• Small civil claims up to $7,500, such as unpaid debts and property damage.
• Landlord and tenant disputes, including eviction actions.
• Lower-level criminal charges, like simple assault or petty theft.
• Setting bail and bond for many arrested people.
• Preliminary hearings to test whether a felony case should move up.
• Signing arrest and search warrants on probable cause.
• County summary traffic cases outside city limits.

Note: the magistrate cannot grant a divorce, probate a will, or hear a foreclosure; those go to other Horry County courts.

Small Claims and Eviction in Horry County Magistrate Court

Most civil work in this court is small claims. A small claim is a money dispute under the dollar cap. The Horry County limit is $7,500. People use small claims court to chase unpaid rent. Others recover a deposit or settle a damaged-property fight. You do not need a lawyer to file. The forms are short. The process is meant to be plain enough for a regular person to use.

Eviction is the other big piece. When a landlord wants a tenant out, the case starts here. The court issues a rule to vacate or an ejectment order. That comes after a hearing. Both sides get a chance to speak. These landlord and tenant cases move quicker than civil suits in Circuit Court, which is part of why the summary court exists.

A few key terms come up again and again in these magistrate court files.

Small claims

A civil money case at or below $7,500 heard by a magistrate.

Eviction

A court action to remove a tenant and restore the property to the landlord.

Bail

The condition, often money, that lets an arrested person stay free until trial.

Bond

The set amount or promise that secures bail; cash or surety can post it.

Preliminary hearing

A short hearing to check if there is enough cause to send a felony to Circuit Court.

Larger civil disputes do not belong here. A claim over the cap goes to the Court of Common Pleas. For that path, see the Horry County Circuit Court page, which covers the county's main trial court.

Horry County Magistrate Court Locations

Horry County is large. So the court spreads its magistrate offices across several towns. Each office serves the area around it. The central traffic court and the main Conway magistrate share one address. Smaller offices cover places like Aynor, Loris, and Little River. The table below lists each Horry County magistrate court with its address and phone, drawn from the state judiciary's courthouse directory.

The Conway office at 1201 Third Avenue doubles as the county's central traffic court. You reach it at 843-915-5070. A Domestic Violence Court runs at that same Third Avenue address. Its line is 843-915-5290. Call the office that fits your case before you drive out, since hours and case days can shift.

Finding Magistrate Cases on the Horry County Public Index

Most magistrate cases show up online. The search is free. The state's Horry County Public Index covers Circuit Court, Family Court, magistrate courts, and several city courts in one place. When you run a Horry County magistrate court search there, set the court type to Magistrate. That narrows the list. You can also reach the index from the statewide Case Records Search page, which explains the cookie and pop-up settings the site needs.

The index works the same for a small claim or a criminal charge. You can search by name. You can search by case number. You can also filter by court type and date. A short walkthrough keeps it simple.

1. Open the Horry County Public Index or the statewide Case Records Search page.
2. Read the disclaimer and click to accept it.
3. Type the security code and click Validate; the state guide warns that pressing Enter will not work.
4. Set Court Type to Magistrate, then add a name or case number.
5. Click a case number in the results to open the docket, parties, and any financial detail.

One change matters here. Home addresses came off the Public Index for all cases as of January 1, 2026. Names and case numbers stayed. Want a fuller look at how to read a case file? The Horry County court records page breaks down the search screen field by field.

Traffic Cases in Horry County Magistrate Court

Magistrate Court is the home for county summary traffic. If a ticket is written outside a city's limits, it usually lands at a magistrate office. The Conway location at 1201 Third Avenue runs as the central traffic court. That is the spot for many speeding tickets and seat-belt cases. City tickets are different. They go to that city's Municipal Court instead.

Serious traffic crimes do not stay at the summary level. A DUI can route to the criminal side. So can a charge tied to injury. Those reach Circuit Court. The line between a minor ticket and a criminal traffic charge shapes which court hears the case. For citation lookup, fines, and how a court traffic record differs from a state driver record, see the Horry County traffic court records page.

Note: paying a ticket can count as a guilty plea, so check the charge and your options before you send any money.

Bail and Bond Hearings in Horry County

One of the magistrate's busiest jobs is bond. After an arrest in Horry County, a magistrate holds a bond hearing soon. The magistrate sets the type and amount of bond for most charges. Bond hearings for people held at the jail take place at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. A magistrate office runs on site there. Hearings and guilty pleas commonly happen at 9:00am and 2:00pm. The magistrate's schedule can shift those times. You can confirm by calling the detention magistrate office at 843-915-5145.

There is a clear limit on this power. A magistrate cannot set bond for every charge. Three serious charges are off-limits and go to a Circuit Court judge instead.

• Murder.
• Accessory before the fact of murder.
• Criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

For those charges, the Solicitor schedules the hearing. A Circuit Court judge then sets bond in General Sessions. Bonds get posted in person at the Magistrate's Office, not over the phone. The office takes cash, money orders, and major credit cards. It does not take personal checks. The Sheriff's Office warns that it will never collect a payment by phone. That is a common scam. To see who is held and on what charge, the Horry County warrant records page and the county bookings tool both help.

Warrants and Preliminary Hearings

Magistrates sign warrants. On a showing of probable cause, a Horry County magistrate can issue an arrest warrant or a search warrant. This is a core function of the summary court. The case itself may later move to a higher court. A search warrant is not usually public before it is served and returned. So it will not show up in an open search ahead of time.

The court also holds preliminary hearings. A preliminary hearing is a short check on a felony charge. The magistrate looks at whether there is enough cause to bind the case over to Circuit Court. That sends it to prosecution in General Sessions. It is not a trial. It does not decide guilt. The Horry County Sheriff's Office handles the filing and service of criminal warrants. It works with state and federal agencies on outstanding ones. For warrant questions and how to clear one, the Horry County warrant records page lays out the phone lines and steps.

Magistrate Court vs Circuit Court

People often mix up the two trial courts. The magistrate is the lower summary court. It handles smaller and faster matters. The Circuit Court is the county's main trial court for big civil suits and serious crimes. The split comes down to dollar amount, charge level, and the kind of hearing. The table below sets the two side by side. That helps you tell which court fits a case in Horry County.

Appeals run upward. An appeal from Horry County Magistrate Court goes to the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court has a limited appellate role over the lower courts. From there, the path can reach the South Carolina Court of Appeals. The Horry County Circuit Court page covers the next step up, including its civil Common Pleas and criminal General Sessions sides.

Magistrate Court and Municipal Court

Horry County also has municipal courts. The two are easy to confuse. A municipal court sits inside a city or town. It handles ordinance cases and minor crimes within those limits. It has no civil jurisdiction at all. So no small claims and no evictions. A magistrate court covers the county and does both civil and criminal work. So a ticket from a Myrtle Beach city officer may go to the Myrtle Beach Municipal Court. A ticket from the county lands with a magistrate.

Towns with their own municipal courts in Horry County include Conway, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Loris, Aynor, Surfside Beach, and Atlantic Beach. Several of these city courts also appear on the Public Index. So a name search can pull both magistrate and municipal results. Not sure which court holds a file? The Horry County court records page explains how to filter by court type and agency in the index.

Note: a magistrate and a municipal judge both sit as summary courts, but only the magistrate hears civil claims.