The Detention Center
McCormick County Detention Center
- Operated bySheriff's Office
- Jail address141 Cecil Wall Circle, McCormick, SC 29835
- Phone(864) 852-0058; fax (864) 852-0065
- VisitationAll visits by video, scheduled in advance through NCIC; $0.30 per minute; one free visit per week
- Posted feesKiosk deposit fee $3.00; medical request copay $5.00; prescription refill $3.00 per medication; over-the-counter medication $1.00 per pack; messages $0.25-$0.35
- Rated capacityNot found
- Jail AdministratorJail Administrator Tyraneshia Lomax; Division Commander Major Marvin Williams (county Detention Center page)
Source: McCormick 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 — 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 — not published
- ✓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 Chad Cox
- CurrentNamed as Sheriff on the McCormick County government's Sheriff's Office page
- Runs the jailYes — the county's Detention Center page says 'the McCormick County Sheriff's Office is implementing a new system' for inmate mail and refers to the 'sheriffs office booking number'
- Office211 W. Augusta St. Ext., McCormick, SC 29835; 864-465-2520
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: McCormick 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 McCormick County
- Circuit Court: South Carolina's Eleventh Judicial Circuit, which also serves Lexington, Saluda and Edgefield. 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 McCormick 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).
- NoteRegular meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM at the McCormick County Administration Center.
- The boardMcCormick County Council →
- Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →
Notes on the record
- Rescue pass: the county Sheriff's Office page, which was refused in the earlier pass, now opened from the association page; the whole county site (mccormickcountysc.org) was then readable.
- The county's Detention Center page names the facility, a jail administrator and a division commander, and refers to the Sheriff's Office running inmate mail and booking.
- PREA: the Detention Center page states a zero-tolerance policy, names a PREA coordinator (Captain Lomax) and gives reporting routes (864-852-0070, mail, 1-888-CRIMESC). No PREA audit was found.
- Fees: the Detention Center page posts video-visit ($0.30/min), messaging, kiosk deposit ($3.00) and inmate medical copay rates.
- No inmate roster, capacity, bond guidance, death-in-custody or inspection material was found. The Magistrates Office page says only that magistrates 'issue warrants, set bonds'.
- Budget: the Finance page links budget ordinances 25-01 (FY2025-26) and 26-01 (FY2026-27). The 25-01 PDF opened but had no readable text; the 26-01 PDF was refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED). The FY2025 audit opened but shows no sheriff or detention line. Scored 'no' because no sheriff/jail line was actually read.
- The March 20, 2026 budget workshop document read had no detention content.
- The one WebSearch returned the association page plus news/state pages; county URLs were reached through the association page link.
- 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 McCormick 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