The Detention Center
J. Reuben Long Detention Center
- Operated bySheriff's Office
- Jail address4150 J. Reuben Long Ave., Conway, SC 29526
- Phone(843) 915-5140
- Sheriff's Office control sinceJuly 1, 1999
- Video visitation$0.30 per minute through NCIC; on-site visits free
- Rated capacityNot found
- Jail AdministratorMarcus Rhodes, Director, J. Reuben Long Detention Center (appointed February 2020)
Source: Horry County Detention Center page · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
5/10Partial- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✓PREA audits
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✓How to post bond
- ✓Phone, video and commissary rates
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 Phillip E. Thompson
- Runs the jailYes. The Sheriff's Office oversees court security, civil process, and the J. Reuben Long Detention Center (county site)
- Took over the jailThe Horry County Sheriff's Office assumed control of J. Reuben Long Detention Center on July 1, 1999
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Horry County Sheriff's Office (horrycountysc.gov) · 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 Horry County
- Circuit Court: South Carolina's Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Georgetown. 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 Horry 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 link found but refused our reader.
- The boardHorry County Council
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- The Sheriff's Office runs the jail; the county site says it took control on July 1, 1999.
- Booking & Releases page links a county-hosted Bookings and Releases app (horrycountysc.gov/apps/bookings); the app needs JavaScript, so our reader could not see its contents.
- Detention center page states a PREA zero-tolerance policy and links a 2025 sexual abuse annual report and a final audit report; the PDFs refused our reader, so the audit type was not confirmed and inspections is not credited.
- Bond page: magistrates set most bonds; circuit judge for murder, accessory to murder and sexual conduct charges; cash (exact amount), money orders and major cards accepted, no personal checks; bonds paid in person at the Magistrate's Office.
- Video visitation costs $0.30 per minute (NCIC). No phone, commissary or booking fee amounts found on pages read.
- What was tried: the sheriff/director pages on horrycountysc.gov without www, and sub-pages for communications, deposit funds, medical, council and the PDFs, were refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED). Pages opened came from two web searches.
- Capacity, year built, cost, budget and council minutes not found on pages read.
- 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 Horry 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