The Detention Center
Herman W. Young Fairfield County Detention Center
- Operated byCounty (detention center department)
- Jail address10 Faith Lane, Winnsboro, SC 29180
- Phone803-635-4841 or 803-635-2013; booking 803-815-4093
- NameRenamed the Herman W. Young Fairfield County Detention Center at a dedication on March 21, 2023 (county news page)
- Operator basisListed in the county's Department Directory with its own director; budgeted as Department 015 separate from the Sheriff Office (Department 026)
- Budget FY through 06/30/26Detention Center adopted budget $2,656,525; Sheriff Office $6,298,316
- Bond hearingsHeld at the detention center seven days a week (Winnsboro DPS charges 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM; other agencies 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM); licensed bond agencies list posted
- VisitationBy appointment; 30 minutes per week for most inmates; weekend hours for sentenced inmates
- Jail AdministratorAlvin Graber (Director, per county detention center page)
Source: Fairfield County - Detention Center · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✗Who is in custody — not published
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✓What it costs taxpayers
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✓How to post bond
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Will Montgomery
- CurrentNamed as Sheriff on the Sheriff's Office page of the county site
- Runs the jailNot stated on the pages read; the Detention Center is listed as its own county department with its own director, and the sheriff page only links to it
- Office address250 N Walnut Street, Winnsboro, SC 29180; 803-635-4141
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Fairfield County - Sheriff's Office · 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 Fairfield County
- Circuit Court: South Carolina's Sixth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Lancaster and Chester. 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 Fairfield County magistrates. For most charges a magistrate sets bond soon after arrest.
- 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 page links meeting agendas/minutes and the FY 2026-27 Operating Budget Ordinance 854.
- The boardFairfield County Council →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Examined this pass. County site fairfieldsc.com opened and confirms Fairfield County, South Carolina (Winnsboro).
- Opened: https://www.fairfieldsc.com/departments/detention-center, /detention-center/bond-hearings, /detention-center/visitation, /departments, /departments/sheriffs-office, /departments/finance, /departments/finance/budget-by-organization, /departments/county-council, https://www.fairfieldsc.com/news/fairfield-county-herman-w-young-building-dedication-ceremony, and the June 2026 budget-by-organization PDF.
- Named credited from the county dedication page naming the Herman W. Young Fairfield County Detention Center; the detention page itself is headed only 'Detention Center'.
- Budget credited: June 2026 budget-by-organization report shows Detention Center (Dept 015) and Sheriff Office (Dept 026) lines.
- Bond credited: bond-hearings page gives hearing times and place and posts a licensed bond agencies list (no payment instructions).
- The detention page says it partners with the South Carolina Department of Corrections; no contract document was found, so contracts not credited.
- No roster, capacity, fee rates, PREA, deaths or inspection report on the pages opened.
- The FY 2026-27 Budget Ordinance 854 PDF had no readable text.
- One WebSearch used.
- 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 Fairfield 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