Dillon County, South Carolina — The Jail, the Sheriff, the Judges

The Detention Center

Dillon County Detention Center

Operated bySheriff's Office
Jail address1027 Old Latta Highway, Dillon, SC 29536
Phone843-774-1435; detention line 843-841-3730
Rated capacity'The facility can house up to 200 inmates'
Staff37 detention center personnel (per page)
RoleSecure confinement for adults and juveniles; medical and mental health services available (per page)
Jail AdministratorSarah Samuel (Director, Detention Center, per county sheriff page)

Source: Dillon County - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-29

Transparency rating

Not scored. Dillon County's and its sheriff's own websites could not be reached or read in the session that produced this record, so their disclosures were never examined. This is a gap in the research, not a finding about the county.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

Year builtNot found
Original costNot found
Paid for byNot found
BedsUp to 200 inmates (sheriff's page)

Since then

Not found

The Sheriff

Sheriff James "Jamie" Hamilton

CurrentNamed as Sheriff on the county's Sheriff pages
Runs the jailYes - sheriff page: 'The Dillon County Detention Center is a division of the Dillon County Sheriff's Department.'
Office addressDillon County Judicial Center, 1033 Old Latta Highway, P.O. Box 627, Dillon, SC 29536; 843-774-1432

Still needed

Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Dillon County - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-29

The Judges

South Carolina's circuit court judges are elected by the General Assembly and hear felony cases. For most charges a magistrate sets bond soon after arrest; for offenses punishable by death or life imprisonment only a circuit judge can.

Who sets bail in Dillon County

Circuit Court: South Carolina's Fourth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Marlboro, Chesterfield and Darlington. Circuit judges are elected by the General Assembly to six-year terms and hear felony cases; for offenses punishable by death or life imprisonment only a circuit judge can set bond.
Magistrate Court: the Dillon County magistrates. For most charges a magistrate sets bond soon after arrest.

Still needed

The county's bond schedule
Share of the jail population held pretrial
Median time from booking to first appearance

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-29

The County Council

They pay for the jail. Depending on the county, the sheriff or a county detention department runs it.

What they controlThe county budget that funds the detention center and the sheriff's office, and the jail building itself. In counties where the sheriff has handed the jail to the county, the council's administrator runs it.
What they don'tDay-to-day operations where the sheriff keeps the jail (S.C. Code 24-5-10). The state Department of Corrections inspects every detention center each year (S.C. Code 24-9-20).
NoteCouncil meets 4th Wednesday monthly; agendas posted through 23 Sep 2026 and minutes through 12 Aug 2026.
The boardDillon County Council →
Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →

Notes on the record

Examined this pass. County site dilloncountysc.org opened and confirms Dillon County, South Carolina (seat Dillon, per council page address).
Opened: https://dilloncountysc.org/departments/sheriff, https://www.dilloncountysc.org/services/public_safety/sheriffs_office.php, https://www.dilloncountysc.org/?p=1065 (home), /departments/finance.php, /departments/administration.php, https://www.dilloncountysc.org/government/county_council/agendas_minutes.php.
Capacity credited: sheriff page states the detention center can house up to 200 inmates.
Budget not credited: finance and administration pages post only vendor forms, no budget or financial report.
No roster/inmate search, bond guidance, fee rates, PREA, deaths, inspection report or contracts on the pages opened.
What was tried: https://www.dillonsheriff.org/ (domain seen in the director's email) refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED).
One WebSearch used.
Not scored: the sheriff's own website refused our reader; only the county's short sheriff page opened. Marking the rest 'not published' would claim more than was checked. Found published on the pages that did open: named, capacity.
State inspection/oversight: The South Carolina Department of Corrections must inspect every county detention center each year and send written reports to county officials (S.C. Code 24-9-20). A county earns the inspections mark here only if it posts such a report on its own site.

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Dillon County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).

How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?

Your VOTE is POWERFUL.

The sheriff is elected. So are the county council members who pay for the jail.

Names verified 2026-09-29 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered