Locate Released Horry County Inmates

How to Find Recently Released Horry County Inmates

The county runs one tool for both bookings and releases. The Horry County Bookings and Releases app lets you search by Last Name, Booking Date, or Release Date. That release-date field is what makes it useful here. Many county jail sites only show who is held right now. Horry publishes release-date-searchable data, so you can look up someone who already left.

The app reads each record and shows a status. The logic is simple. If a release date exists, the record shows "Released" with that date. If there is no release date but home detention is flagged, it shows "Out to Home Detention." If neither is true, the person is "Still Incarcerated." So one search can tell you the difference between a full release, a monitored release at home, and someone still in the jail.

Home detention is a court-ordered option with GPS and alcohol monitoring. A judge can set it as a bond condition. A person on home detention has not been fully released, even though they are not inside the jail. Read the status label closely before you assume someone is free and clear.

Start with the last name if you do not know exact dates. You can add a release date range to narrow a common name. The booking and releases page links the tool and warns that bonds are not collected over the phone. For the live jail roster and booking details, see the Horry County inmate records page.

Note: the county warns that it cannot validate every booking entry, so confirm a release with jail staff before you act on it.

Setting Up Release Notifications

You do not have to check a site over and over. VINELink can watch a custody record and tell you when it changes. The free VINELink portal lets victims, witnesses, and the public register for custody status alerts. You pick a state or agency, find the person, and sign up for notice by phone, email, or text.

This service helps most when someone is worried about safety. An alert can fire on release, transfer, escape, or other status change, based on what the agency shares. Coverage depends on which jails and prisons feed data into the system. Not every facility participates the same way, so confirm the source if the alert matters for a safety plan.

The fields are short and easy. The table below shows what VINELink asks for.

Sign up early if you want notice the moment a status flips. Waiting until release day can leave you a step behind.

Searching State and Federal Released Inmates

Not every release runs through the county jail. People sentenced to longer prison terms go to the state or federal system. Each system keeps its own search. The SCDC current inmate search covers the South Carolina Department of Corrections. The Federal Bureau of Prisons locator covers federal inmates. These are different databases, and they do not share one login.

One key limit matters here. The SCDC search shows only people currently sentenced to and held in SCDC as of midnight the day before. It does not list released SCDC offenders. It also leaves out county jail inmates, people on parole, probation, or community supervision, juveniles housed with SCDC, and current fugitives. So the state tool confirms a current hold, not a past release. To trace an SCDC release date, you often need to call the state.

The SCDC search disclaimer spells out these exclusions and the data timing. The image below comes from that official notice.

The disclaimer page sets out what the SCDC search will and will not return. View it on the SCDC inmate-search disclaimer page.

Read those exclusions first so you do not assume a blank SCDC result means a person was never in state prison.

The SCDC search itself takes a few simple fields. The table below lists them.

The live SCDC application is shown below. It pulls public data on inmates held in state prison as of the prior midnight.

You can open the tool directly at the SCDC public inmate search.

If the name does not appear, the person may be released, on supervision, or never held by SCDC at all.

The federal locator works differently. The BOP locator covers federal inmates from 1982 forward and often shows a release date or status. You can search by number or by name. The fields are below.

The federal tool is shown below. Because it keeps records back to 1982, it can confirm a past federal release where the state tool cannot.

Open it at the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

For a wider federal and sex-offender search hub, the U.S. Department of Justice also runs a locate-an-inmate page.

Verifying Release in Person or By Phone

Online tools can lag. A release can post late, or a status can change between updates. When the answer matters, call the people who hold the record. For county jail questions, the J. Reuben Long booking line is the place to start. For state prison, the SCDC information line can help.

Sentence time at the jail is recalculated daily and updated after 2:00pm. So a release date can shift as credits apply. Good time gives a one-day cut for every two days served after sentencing. Work credit gives two days off for each day worked, but only after the person is sentenced on all charges, cleared by the Medical Department, and given a job. A sentencing judge can deny work credit. That is why a phone check beats a guess.

Have the full name and any case or booking number ready before you call. Staff cannot collect bonds by phone, and they will not give legal advice. Keep the questions simple and factual.

1. Search the Horry Bookings and Releases app by last name or release date first.
2. Read the status label: Released, Out to Home Detention, or Still Incarcerated.
3. For county booking or release questions, call J. Reuben Long booking at 843-915-6911.
4. For sentence-credit math, ask about the daily recalculation after 2:00pm.
5. For state prison release, call the SCDC inmate information line at 1-866-727-2846.
6. For federal release, check the BOP locator before calling any federal office.

The Sex Offender Registry After Release

Some released people must register as sex offenders. South Carolina runs its statewide registry through SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Locally, the Horry County Sheriff sex offender registry page handles registration, tips, and move-in deadlines for the county. A person who moves into the area must register by the deadline the office sets.

The registry lets you search by name or by area. A geographic search helps when you want to know who lives near a home or school. The fields below appear on the registry search.

Note: registry data is meant for public safety, and the law forbids using it to harass or harm a person on the list.

Parole and Probation Information

Release does not always mean a clean break from supervision. Many people leave custody onto parole or probation. They report to an agent, follow set rules, and can be sent back for a violation. The SCDC search does not cover people on parole, probation, or community supervision, so the state inmate tool will not confirm that status.

For someone who came out of state prison, parole and post-prison supervision run through the state corrections and parole systems. The county jail handles its own short sentences and bond releases, not state parole. If you need to know whether a released person is under supervision, the SCDC inmate information line at 1-866-727-2846 is a good first call, and VINELink can flag some custody changes.

A person on home detention through the Horry jail is still under a court-ordered hold, not parole. Keep those two ideas separate. Home detention is a custody status set by a judge. Parole and probation are supervision after a prison or court sentence. The labels matter when you read a record.

Reentry Resources in Horry County

Getting out is only the first step. The jail runs programs aimed at reentry, personal growth, and lower repeat offending. The J. Reuben Long inmate programs page describes that work, and a chaplain handles religious requests and death notifications. These programs start before release to help with the move back to the community.

Transportation is a real hurdle on release day. Released people are responsible for their own ride. Coast RTA makes scheduled stops at the detention center, so the bus is one option. The county lists set fares for that trip. The table below shows them.

Indigent inmates who need a way from Conway to Myrtle Beach can ask administrative staff for a bus pass. The official detention release page covers this along with time calculations and credits. That page is the source for the release-day rules.

Halfway-house and nonprofit options exist, but official jail and court sources do not publish a fixed local list. For state prisoners, SCDC offers reentry, probation, and parole resources. It is worth calling a release counselor or checking the SCDC site before you assume a bed or program is open.

Civil Rights Restoration After Release

People often ask what rights come back after release. The honest answer is that it depends, and some rights need separate steps. A release date alone does not settle every civil right. The rules differ by the type of right and the underlying case.

Voting is one common question. In South Carolina, voting rights are generally restored once a person completes the full sentence, which can include probation or parole. The exact registration steps should be confirmed with the state election authority, not assumed from a release record. Do not treat a jail release as automatic proof that voting rights are active.

Firearm rights are a separate matter. Restoring the right to possess a firearm requires its own legal analysis under state and federal law. An expungement or a release does not by itself restore firearm rights. Anyone with a question here should talk to a lawyer rather than rely on a record search.

If a record needs to be cleared, expungement runs through the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor, which screens eligibility under Title 17, Chapter 22 and related statutes. For booking and arrest details tied to a case, see the Horry County arrest records page and the warrant records page. Population and capacity figures sit on the jail population page.