The Detention Center
Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center
- Operated byCounty (detention center department)
- Jail address201 John Mark Dial Dr., Columbia, SC 29209
- Phone803-576-3200
- RoleIntake center for Richland County; holds people after arrest and awaiting trial, and sentenced offenders
- Security levelsMinimum, medium and maximum
- VisitationOne one-hour visit per week, up to two visitors; online registration
- Rated capacityNot found
Source: Richland County — Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓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 — not published
- ✗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 Leon Lott
- CurrentNamed in the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association directory; not confirmed on a county page
- Runs the jailNo — the county's own page describes the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center as a Richland County department
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: South Carolina Sheriffs' Association directory · 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 Richland County
- Circuit Court: South Carolina's Fifth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Kershaw. 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 Richland 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 on county site but our reader was refused
- The boardRichland County Council
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- What was tried: rcsd.net (https and http) and rcsd.net/careers refused; richlandcountysc.gov root refused.
- One search found the county's detention center pages; both opened on richlandcountysc.gov.
- County page says the detention center operates as a Richland County department.
- Detention Center page links a 'Detainee Public Information' lookup on the county's own www7.richlandcountysc.gov domain (the lookup itself refused our reader).
- Department page states a zero tolerance PREA policy and links a Report Prison Rape page (that sub-page refused our reader).
- Commissary is ordered weekly; no commissary, phone or video-visit rates shown on pages read.
- County Council, Budget, Bond Court and Sheriff (elected office) pages were found in the site's links but refused our reader, so budget and bond_info could not be confirmed.
- No capacity, deaths, inspection report or contracts found on the pages read.
- Sheriff name not confirmed on an own page (rcsd.net refused); association directory name 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 Richland 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