Being arrested in South Carolina sets off a specific sequence of events, starting with a bond hearing and continuing through either an initial appearance in circuit court or a bench trial date in municipal or magistrate court.
Understanding what a judge looks at when setting bond, and what actually happens, and doesn’t happen, at that first court date can make an unfamiliar process less confusing. The information below covers the bond hearing itself, the factors judges weigh, and the first court appearance after release.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens After Arrest in South Carolina? Bond Hearing & Court Process Explained
The next day, or within 10 or 15 hours, you’re going to be released on bond. And then you’re going to have a couple of court dates. The first court date is what’s called an initial appearance. This presumes that you’re charged with a serious crime, not necessarily a felony, but you’re in the circuit court, during the court of general sessions, which is where all felonies and serious cases go.
So you have an initial appearance, which means you’re supposed to go to the courthouse on a particular day. It’s not court. It can be very confusing. It’s not an arraignment. It’s not entering a plea. It’s not appearing in front of a judge. It’s simply going to the courthouse on a Friday morning. Usually these things are on Friday. And then, to determine who your lawyer is.
When a lawyer represents you, you get excused from that. That’s just a condition of your bond, to come in and kind of get the ball rolling, but it’s not court. After that, there’s another appearance that comes later. And then you have the possibility of requesting a preliminary hearing on those charges.
Now, if you’re charged in the municipal courts or the magistrate’s courts, it’s a little different process. You’re given a bench trial date, and you have to go to it or they’ll try you in your absence. You have a right to request a jury trial on that, and if you hire a lawyer, they’re going to routinely demand a jury trial, which means you don’t have to go to that. So those are the situations that come up after an arrest.
What Happens at a Bond Hearing in South Carolina After an Arrest?
The judge is going to ask you questions, not about what you’re accused of. It’s not about whether you’re guilty or not guilty. Now, sometimes on serious cases, prosecutors abuse this because they’ll go into the details of the crime to make it look bad for you, to say that you’re a dangerous person.
But in general, what the judge is looking for is, are you a flight risk? In other words, are you a stable person? And there are factors that they look at for that. And are you a danger to the community? Because even if you are a little bit of a flight risk and a little bit of a danger, you should still get a bond.
You just get a shy bond with certain conditions. So how do they determine if you’re a flight risk? Simple things: have you lived at one place for a long time? Have you worked in your adult life? Have you worked for an employer for a long time? Do you own your own home? Do you have ties to the community?
They’re just looking at whether you have a long criminal record and no family ties, no ties to the community, whether you’re like some wayward drifter. If so, you’re much less likely to be considered a safe risk to come back to court. So those are factors that enter into it.
That’s what a bond hearing is: are you a danger, or are you a flight risk? And the bond conditions are supposed to reasonably assure your appearance at court. You have a constitutional right to a bond. That’s been changed through laws and things to get tough on crime, but in general, you have a constitutional right to a bond because arrest is not a conviction.
You’re presumed innocent. So you should be free up until the time that you’re convicted, or if you’re convicted at all, because if you’re acquitted, it’s a terrible situation. This happens where somebody is in jail for a year or more and then they’re found not guilty, and they sat in jail that time. That’s one of the most awful things that could happen to somebody.
First Court Date After Arrest in South Carolina? (Initial Appearance Explained)
The first court appearance after an arrest is one of two things. If you’re charged in South Carolina in circuit court, in other words, you’re charged with a crime that could be a misdemeanor that carries a year or more, or it could be a felony, all felonies are in that court, all serious misdemeanors are in that court, then you have what’s called an initial appearance.
An initial appearance is where you’re supposed to go to the courthouse about 45 days after your release on bond. It’s really not a court appearance. People have trouble understanding this. It’s just a condition of bond that you travel to the courthouse that day. Court is not even in session. You’re not going in front of a judge. You’re not going to enter a plea. No one’s going to ask you anything.
No one’s going to talk about your case. They’re really just going to want to know: one, would you really come to court, you’ve been out on bond, so you came to court, so we know you haven’t fled; and two, they just want to nail down who your lawyer is. Either you’ve retained a lawyer or you have a public defender getting assigned to you.
They’ve pretty much done away with that initial appearance, because once a lawyer notifies the court that they represent you, you’re automatically excused from that, because there’s no reason for you to go to court that day. Especially a lot of people who are represented from out of state travel all the way back to South Carolina, go to the courthouse, raise your hand, say, “I’m so and so, I’m here, and this is my lawyer.”
Once the court is notified that you have a lawyer, they routinely stamp you excused, so you don’t have to go to that. Now, if you have cases in the municipal court or the magistrate’s court, then you have a bench trial. And this can be confusing, because you could be released from jail and have both and miss one.
If you’re supposed to go to the municipal court or the magistrate’s court, what’s called the summary court, think of them like traffic courts, if you miss that court date, they’re going to try you in your absence and you’re going to be found guilty.
They’re going to forfeit your bond and enter it as a guilty plea. So in that instance, you either have to do something or you have to go. If you hire a lawyer, they can send a letter and request a jury trial, and that voids out that bench trial.
Understanding these steps can help ease some of the uncertainty that comes with an arrest. Greg McCollum has practiced criminal defense in South Carolina for roughly 30 years and previously worked as a prosecutor, giving him insight into how both sides of a case are built.
If you have questions about the arrest, bond, and court process in South Carolina, call the Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team at (843) 626-5480. Consultations are confidential.
