The Detention Center
York County Detention Center (Moss Justice Center)
- Operated bySheriff's Office
- Jail address1675-3A York Highway, York, SC 29745
- Phone803-628-3083
- Rated capacity565 beds, direct supervision facility
- Chief Jail AdministratorChief John Hicks
- Jail AdministratorChief John Hicks, Chief Jail Administrator
Source: York County Sheriff's Office — Detention Center directory · checked 2026-09-29
Transparency rating
3/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✓Beds and daily population
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗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 — 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
- Beds565
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Tony W. Breeden
- CurrentNamed on the sheriff's own About the YCSO page
- Runs the jailYes — the sheriff's own site describes the detention center and lists its Chief Jail Administrator in the office directory
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: York County Sheriff's Office — About the YCSO · 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 York County
- Circuit Court: South Carolina's Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, which also serves Union. 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 York 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 not opened
- The boardYork County Council
- Where the jail money is decidedNot found
Notes on the record
- What was tried: www.yorkcountysheriff.com root (https and http) and its Employment page refused our reader.
- One search found the sheriff's Detention Center directory page and About the YCSO page; both opened.
- About page: 565-bed direct supervision facility holding people arrested by agencies in York County.
- Directory page links an Inmate Info/Search 'inmates in jail' list on the county's yorkcountygov.com domain (the list itself refused our reader).
- Directory page mentions a Bond Hearing Magistrate phone option but no bond guidance.
- Detention main page (/31/Detention) and CALEA Accreditation page refused our reader, so PREA, fees, inspections and contracts could not be checked there.
- Association directory lists 1675-2A York Hwy; the sheriff's own page shows 1675-3A York Highway.
- County government site not reached.
- 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 York 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