Is There a Horry County Warrant Search Online?
The short answer is no. The Horry County Sheriff's Warrant Division does not post an online list of active warrants. There is no public, searchable active-warrant database for the county. We will not pretend one exists. Any third-party site that claims to show "all Horry County warrants" is not an official source, and you should not trust it or pay it.
The Warrant Division handles the filing and service of criminal warrants. It works with the FBI, ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, and other state and local agencies. To ask about an outstanding warrant, you call the Warrant Division at 843-915-8347. The office also runs an anonymous tip line at 843-915-5688, and that inbox is checked daily. The Horry County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff Phillip E. Thompson, oversees this work along with court security and civil process.
The Sheriff's Office page describes its mission and the services it provides, including warrants and sex offender tracking.
You can confirm the office structure and contacts on the official Sheriff's Office page before you call.
From that page you can reach the Warrant Division, the detention center, and sex offender registry links in one spot.
The Horry County Warrant Division
The Warrant Division is the right place to start a Horry County warrant check. Staff there know the filing and service of criminal warrants in the county. They can tell you, case by case, how to handle a question about a warrant. The line is 843-915-8347.
Because warrants tie into so many agencies, the division does not give out a bulk list. A warrant may come from a local magistrate, from a city court, or from a federal partner. The division coordinates with federal offices like the U.S. Marshals on fugitive cases. If you think there may be a warrant in your name, a call is the most direct step. You can also speak with a lawyer first.
The Warrant Division page lists the outstanding-warrant phone line and the anonymous tip line side by side.
That page is the official source for the division's phone numbers and its work with outside agencies.
Note: the anonymous tip line at 843-915-5688 is for sharing information on a wanted person, not for clearing your own warrant.
How to Check for a Horry County Warrant
Since no official warrant database is online, you check in pieces. You can call the Warrant Division. You can look at court case history on the Public Index. You can search the bookings app to see if a person was just arrested. None of these is a full warrant list, but together they give a clear picture. The table below sets out each option and what it does.
| Search Option | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online warrant search | n/a | n/a | No official online active warrant database exists for Horry County. |
| Phone inquiry | Phone | Case-specific | Warrant Division 843-915-8347. |
| Anonymous tip | Phone | Optional | 843-915-5688; inbox checked daily. |
| Public Index search | Case database | Optional | Search case, charge, and FTA history; not a warrant-clearance certificate. |
| Bookings search | Jail database | Optional | Check current or recent bookings; not an active warrant list. |
The free Horry County Public Index shows case and charge history, which can hint at a bench warrant for a missed court date. The Horry County bookings app shows who is in jail right now or was recently released. For a broader case search, the statewide Case Records Search page also covers Horry County.
Keep in mind the limits. A booking entry is not the same as a warrant list. A clear Public Index search does not prove there is no warrant. For a firm answer, the phone call to the Warrant Division still wins.
Types of Warrants in Horry County
Not all warrants are the same. Some order an arrest. Some order a search. Some come from a judge when a person misses court. Knowing the type helps you know which office to call. South Carolina magistrates handle much of this front-end work. They issue arrest and search warrants and hold preliminary hearings.
An arrest warrant rests on probable cause that a person committed a crime. A search warrant lets officers search a place or seize items, and it is usually not public before it is served and returned. The other common types show up in county booking and court files often enough that it helps to define them plainly.
- Arrest warrant
- An order to take a named person into custody, based on probable cause for an offense.
- Bench warrant
- A judge-issued order, often for a missed court date or a violation of a court order.
- Search warrant
- An order that allows a search or seizure; not generally public before it is served.
- Fugitive warrant
- A hold for an out-of-county or out-of-state wanted person; a booking may show the charge "FUGITIVE."
- Capias / contempt
- An order tied to contempt of court; a sample booking listed contempt of court as a charge.
The Sheriff's Office also handles civil process, which is not a criminal warrant. The Warrant Division does coordinate with ICE and other federal agencies, but the public warrant page gives no online hold database. So a federal hold is not something you look up on a county site.
Who Issues Horry County Warrants
Most arrest and search warrants in the county start with a magistrate. Under state law, magistrates issue these warrants, set bail, and hold preliminary hearings. They sit in the summary courts below the Circuit Court. A bench warrant, by contrast, comes from the judge handling the case, often after a missed court date.
The state judiciary explains the magistrate role on its Magistrate Court page. For local detail on Horry's summary courts and where bond is posted, see the Horry County Magistrate Court page. Serious charges follow a different path. For murder, accessory before the fact of murder, and criminal sexual conduct with a minor, a magistrate cannot set bond. The Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor schedules those, and a Circuit Court judge sets bond in General Sessions.
So the issuing court depends on the charge and the stage of the case. A traffic or summary offense usually points to a magistrate or municipal court. A felony points to General Sessions inside the Circuit Court.
What Appears on Warrant-Related Records
There is no public warrant document you can pull online, but warrant activity leaves traces in records you can see. A booking result may show the charge tied to a warrant. A Public Index case may show the court date a person missed, which can lead to a bench warrant. The list below shows the warrant-related fields that may appear across these public sources.
| Source / Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Booking charge description | Text like FUGITIVE or CONTEMPT OF COURT tied to a warrant. |
| Booking charge number | A number that may match a warrant or court case. |
| Bail amount | A dollar figure or "NO BAIL SET" on the booking charge. |
| Public Index case number | The court-assigned number for a related case. |
| Charge and disposition | The offense and its outcome in the court file. |
| Arrest date and judge | When the arrest posted and which judge handled the case. |
One key limit applies here. Active sealed warrants and search warrants may not appear in any public source before they are served. So a quiet record does not always mean a clear record.
Horry County Sheriff Records Checks
The Sheriff's Office runs a records check service for people who need a local background result. Local checks are free during the office hours posted on the county page. The office points the public to the Public Index for online court history and does not take third-party requests on behalf of others.
A records check is not the same as a warrant search. It can show local arrest history, but it is not a full warrant-clearance certificate. For that, you still go back to the Warrant Division line. The Sheriff records checks page spells out the hours and the rules.
That page also confirms the free local check window and points users to the Public Index for case lookups.
For arrest and booking detail, the Horry County arrest records page covers the booking process. The full jail roster sits on the Horry County inmate records page.
What to Do About an Outstanding Horry County Warrant
If you think there is a warrant in your name, do not panic and do not ignore it. A warrant does not go away on its own. The steps below follow the official county guidance for handling an outstanding warrant the right way. Talk to a lawyer if you are unsure at any point.
- Do not rely on any third-party warrant website. Use county and court sources only.
- Call the Warrant Division at 843-915-8347, or speak with a lawyer first.
- Search the Horry County court records Public Index for a related case number or court date.
- If it is a ticket or summary offense, contact the listed magistrate or municipal court.
- If the offense is bondable, bond is posted at the Magistrate's Office, not by phone.
- For serious charges where a magistrate cannot set bond, expect the Solicitor and a Circuit Court bond process.
- After the warrant clears, check that court records update, since delays can happen.
On payment, the Magistrate's Office takes cash, money orders, and major credit cards for cash or surety bond. Personal checks are not accepted. Cash payers must bring the exact amount. Bond hearings and guilty pleas usually happen near 9:00am and 2:00pm, subject to the magistrate schedule, which you can confirm at 843-915-5145.
Horry County Bond and Warrant Scam Warning
Scammers sometimes call people and claim there is a warrant in their name. They demand payment by phone, gift card, or wire. This is a fraud. The real process never works that way.
Important: The Horry County Sheriff's Office will never collect payment over the phone. Bond is posted in person at the Magistrate's Office. If a caller demands money by phone to clear a warrant, it is a scam. Hang up and call the Warrant Division at 843-915-8347.
The county's own warrant information page backs this up. No deputy will ask for a card number to settle a warrant. When in doubt, call the office directly using the number on the official county site, not a number a caller gives you.
Horry County Sex Offender Registry
The Sheriff's Office also keeps the county sex offender registry. This is a separate public-safety duty from the Warrant Division, but it falls under the same office. The registry handles registration, a tip line, and move-in deadlines for offenders who relocate to the county.
You can reach the registry unit at 843-915-8573. The Horry County sex offender registry page lists the registration rules, the office address, email, and hours. The statewide source is the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at SLED.
That page sets the move-in deadline and the contact details for registering or reporting a concern.
Note: registry status and warrant status are different records, so a person on the registry does not by that fact have an open warrant.
Federal Warrants and Out-of-State Holds
Some warrants are not local at all. A federal warrant or a hold from another state runs through different agencies. The Horry Warrant Division coordinates with the U.S. Marshals Service and other federal partners on fugitive cases, but it does not post a public federal hold list.
For federal inmates and offenders, the U.S. Department of Justice runs a locator that ties together federal prison and registry searches. The DOJ locate-a-prison-inmate page points to the right federal tools.
That federal page is the place to start when a warrant or hold may be federal rather than county-level. For released-custody questions, see the released inmates page.