 Each county has a popularly elected Clerk of Court who serves a four-year term. The Clerk's Office is responsible for a wide variety of activities and duties governed by state law under the supervision of the SC Judicial Department, Court Administration.
The Clerk 's Office supports the work of the Court of General Sessions (criminal court), Court of Common Pleas (civil court) and the Family Court*.
For example, lawyers must file all pleadings and motions with the Clerk's Office.
Judges rely on the Clerk of Court to provide them with all these documents and filings for the cases that they hear.
In General Sessions (criminal) and Common Pleas (civil) Court, the Clerk's office provides information and assistance
to prospective jurors and active juries.
Examples of other duties include: receiving criminal warrants and transmission of them to the solicitor;
receiving bail; compiling trial lists; managing dockets of cases to be heard; staffing the courtroom
while the court is in session; receiving fees, fines and costs; maintaining all court records; and submitting
reports to a variety of state and federal agencies.
Among the Clerk's duties in Family Court are: issuing Rules to Show Cause in cases where
court orders have not been followed, and filing of Orders of Protection and transmittal of
these orders to the appropriate local law enforcement agencies. The Clerk also collects and disburses
court-ordered child support payments.
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