Search Lexington County Court Records
Most Lexington County court records for Common Pleas civil cases, General Sessions criminal cases, and many Magistrate Court matters are searched through the South Carolina case records search page and the Lexington County Public Index. The state page says cookies and JavaScript must be enabled, and case detail screens may need a browser pop-up exception. Family Court is different. Lexington County Clerk of Court links the separate Family Court public portal for public family-case access.
Start broad when the exact court is unknown. The county PDF for the Judicial Index shows defaults such as All Courts and All Agencies, which helps when a case might be Common Pleas, General Sessions, Magistrate Court, or Master-in-Equity. A case number is best when known. For party searches, use Last Name / Business and add first or middle name only when the result list is too large. Business names belong in the Last Name / Business field.
- Open the South Carolina case records search page and choose Lexington County or use the Lexington Public Index directly.
- Search by case number when available, or enter a party or business name.
- Use court type, agency, case type, date range, or civil index filters only when they help narrow a large result set.
- Open the result row and review tabs such as Case Parties, Judgments, Actions, Tax Map Information, Associated Cases, and Financials.
- Contact the Lexington County Clerk of Court for certified copies, older files, unclear records, or documents not available online.
The Lexington County official website is also a useful starting point for county departments, court links, online services, and FOIA channels.
County department pages help route records that are not held in the court index, such as Probate Court files, Sheriff records, and county administrative records.
Lexington County Court System
Lexington County is in South Carolina's Eleventh Judicial Circuit. The main trial court is Circuit Court, which includes Common Pleas for civil cases and General Sessions for criminal prosecutions. Family Court is a statewide trial court for divorce, custody, support, adoption, protection orders, and many juvenile matters. Probate Court is county based and handles estates, marriage licenses, guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, and mental health commitments.
Magistrate Court and Municipal Court are summary courts. Lexington County magistrates handle small civil claims, landlord-tenant cases, lower-level criminal matters, bail, preliminary hearings, and warrants. Municipal Courts handle city ordinance and limited criminal cases inside town or city limits and do not have civil jurisdiction. The Master-in-Equity handles referred non-jury equity cases, often foreclosure matters, but Lexington County research notes that cases are assigned there by Circuit Court order rather than filed there first.
Case flow: Magistrate or Municipal Court › Circuit Court or Family Court where applicable › South Carolina Court of Appeals › Supreme Court of South Carolina.
| Court or Office | Jurisdiction | Records and Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court | General trial jurisdiction | Common Pleas civil records, General Sessions criminal records, appeals from lower courts. |
| Family Court | Domestic and juvenile jurisdiction | Divorce, custody, support, protection orders, adoption, and juvenile matters with confidentiality limits. |
| Probate Court | County probate jurisdiction | Estates, wills, marriage licenses, guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, and mental health commitments. |
| Magistrate Court | Summary county jurisdiction | Small claims, landlord-tenant cases, warrants, bail, preliminary hearings, and lower-level criminal cases. |
| Municipal Court | City and town jurisdiction | Ordinance cases, municipal traffic, and limited criminal matters within municipal boundaries. |
Lexington County Courthouse Offices
The Lexington County Judicial Center, also known in county material as the Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center, is the central courthouse for many record functions. The building directory places the Clerk of Court, Family Court, Probate Court, Master-in-Equity, Solicitor, Drug Court, Pre-Trial Intervention, Alcohol Education Program, Juvenile Arbitration, and expungement services in the same court complex. Several summary-court functions sit nearby at the Old Lexington County Courthouse, and Bond Court is tied to the county jail complex.
The Lexington County Judicial Center directory lists court offices by suite and phone.
The directory is useful when a record search turns into an in-person copy request, a filing question, or a need to reach a specific court division.
Lexington County Judicial Center
205 East Main Street
Lexington, SC 29072
Clerk: 803-785-8212
Judicial Center Directory
Old Lexington County Courthouse
139 East Main Street
Lexington, SC 29072
Central Traffic/DUI: 803-785-2142
Magistrate and municipal court locations are on the county directory pages.
Sheriff and Detention Center
521 Gibson Road
Lexington, SC 29072
Sheriff: 803-785-8230
Lexington County Court Record Types
Lexington County court records are organized by the agency or court that created them. Common Pleas civil files can include complaints, answers, motions, orders, judgments, foreclosure records, liens, and Master-in-Equity referrals. General Sessions criminal files can include indictments, pleas, motions, hearings, verdicts, dispositions, sentences, bonds, and trial lists. Family Court files can include divorce, custody, support, adoption, juvenile, and protection-order material, with stronger confidentiality limits for children and adoption-related matters.
Probate Court holds estate and marriage-license records rather than Clerk of Court civil or criminal files. The Sheriff maintains current custody and booking information through P2C. SCDMV holds driver records, which are not the same as traffic case files. Federal cases are outside the Lexington County Public Index and belong in federal systems such as PACER.
- Civil records: Common Pleas and Master-in-Equity records may show filings, orders, judgments, tax map tabs, and foreclosure activity.
- Criminal records: General Sessions files track prosecution history after charges move into Circuit Court.
- Family and divorce records: Family Court handles the case file, while a state divorce report is a separate DPH vital-record product.
- Probate and marriage records: Probate Court provides estate searches, marriage searches, certified marriage copies, and estate filings.
- Traffic records: citations may be in Magistrate Court, Municipal Court, Central Traffic/DUI Court, or General Sessions for more serious cases.
What Lexington County Court Records Show
The county-hosted Judicial Index instructions show a Lexington Public Index case detail screen with fields that go far beyond a simple name search. A typical record can show the case number, caption, court agency, case type, case subtype, filed date, jury type, assigned judge, status, judgment number, parties, attorneys, actions, financials, associated cases, tax map information, and document icons for some entries. The Actions tab acts like a public docket because it lists filings and events in date order.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | A unique file number such as the Public Index sample format 2024CP3202734. |
| Caption | The official case title with party names, such as plaintiff versus defendant. |
| Court Agency | The court or division handling the matter, such as Common Pleas or Master-in-Equity. |
| Actions | Docket events such as filing, notices, service, orders, judgments, hearings, affidavits, and exhibits. |
| Disposition | The outcome or status field, which should not be confused with every sentencing or judgment detail. |
| Financials | A tab that may show monetary items depending on case type and public availability. |
Lexington County Public Access Rules
South Carolina provides broad access to public records, but court records are not all handled through one rule. County administrative records may fall under South Carolina FOIA, Title 30, Chapter 4. Judicial records may require the South Carolina Judicial Branch Rule 610 request process instead. Ordinary online case lookup still starts with the Public Index, but certified copies, transcripts, restricted records, bulk judicial records, and non-digitized files require the correct office or judicial channel.
The state courthouse closings and advisories page can help before an in-person visit.
Checking advisories matters because copy requests, court appearances, and counter visits can be affected by court closures or schedule changes.
Key Statutes and Rules:
S.C. Code Title 30, Chapter 4 - public bodies must provide public records unless an exemption or other law applies.
Rule 610, SCACR - many judicial-record requests use the Judicial Branch rule rather than ordinary county FOIA.
S.C. Code Section 63-19-2010 - juvenile court records are confidential except under statutory or court-order access.
S.C. Code Section 17-1-40 - eligible dismissed, not-guilty, or discharged criminal matters may be expunged or sealed under stated conditions.
Restricted Lexington County Records
Not every Lexington County record is open online. Juvenile records are confidential under South Carolina law. Adoption, termination of parental rights, some child-protection material, and some Family Court material are restricted. Probate mental health commitment records are sensitive and not ordinary public lookup material. Sealed and expunged records are removed from general public access when a court order or statute applies.
Personal identifiers are also limited. The state case search notice says home address information no longer displays on the Public Index for new and existing cases as of January 1, 2026. Social Security numbers, financial account data, minor information, and other protected identifiers should be redacted or excluded from public display. For a sealed-record access question, the correct path is the court that sealed or controls the record, not a commercial search site.
Note: A missing online result can mean sealed, confidential, non-digitized, transferred, or wrong-court records.
Lexington County Sheriff Records
The Lexington County Sheriff's Department, led by Sheriff Jay Koon, maintains the county detention and law-enforcement records channels that sit outside the Clerk's court index. Current county jail custody is searched through the official P2C inmate inquiry. The Sheriff's detention materials also cover visitation, mail, money, phone calls, medical care, and bond-related contacts. The Sheriff's Judicial Services and Warrant Division tracks and serves warrants after judges or magistrates issue them.
The Sheriff's Department homepage links core public tools such as inmate inquiry, incident reports, crime tips, inmate visits, and account services.
County quick links and sheriff links are useful when the needed record is a booking record, incident channel, bond contact, or warrant question rather than a court case file.
| Record Need | Official Channel | Key Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Current county inmate | Lexington P2C inmate inquiry | Shows current custody and booking data, not final court outcome. |
| State prison inmate | SCDC inmate search | Covers current SCDC custody as of midnight the previous day. |
| Active warrant question | Sheriff Warrant Division, 803-785-2499 | No official public Lexington County active warrant search was found. |
| Bond timing | Bond Court and detention contacts | Sessions and payment windows vary by weekday, weekend, and holiday schedule. |
Lexington County Marriage Probate Records
Marriage licenses and estate files in Lexington County belong with Probate Court, not the Clerk of Court. Probate Court has online estate search coverage for 1995-present and marriage search coverage for 1986-present, with legacy estate and marriage index coverage noted for older ranges. Certified marriage copies are available from Lexington County for licenses issued there from 1911-present. Divorce decrees, by contrast, are Family Court records requested from the Clerk of Court in the county where the final hearing was held.
South Carolina DPH provides separate vital-record products. DPH marriage certificates and divorce reports cover defined date ranges and are not the same as a Probate Court license file or a Family Court divorce decree. DPH fees include a $12 search that includes one certified copy if found, a $17 expedited search, $3 additional copies, and a $15 special filing fee when applicable.
- Testator
- The person who made a will.
- Executor
- The person named to carry out the will.
- Intestate
- Dying without a valid will.
- Conservatorship
- A court-supervised role for managing property or funds for a protected person.
Lexington County Summary Courts
Summary court records can be the hardest Lexington County court records to route because they are spread across magistrate locations and municipal courts. Magistrate Court may handle small civil claims up to the statutory limit, landlord-tenant cases, preliminary hearings, bail, warrants, and lower-level criminal cases. Municipal Court handles ordinance violations and limited criminal matters inside city or town limits. Some municipal records may appear in the Public Index, but official research warns not to assume every city citation or municipal case is there.
The South Carolina Judicial Branch Lexington County courthouse page lists court offices, judges, clerks, magistrate courts, municipal courts, the Master-in-Equity, Solicitor, Public Defender, addresses, and phones.
The state courthouse page is a strong fallback when a search result points to a court agency but the reader needs the actual court contact.
Lexington County Record Fees
Some official searches are free, but official copies, filings, probate proceedings, vital-record certificates, and federal PACER records may carry fees. The Public Index and Sheriff P2C tools are free official lookup paths. Probate Court publishes a detailed fee schedule, including a $30 marriage license fee, $5 certified copy plus $0.25 per page, $0.25 photocopies, $150 guardianship, $150 conservatorship, $150 litigation petitions or complaints, and estate-value fees that scale with the size of the estate.
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Marriage license | $30 payable to Lexington County. |
| Certified marriage copy | $5.25 per certified copy for Lexington-issued licenses. |
| Probate certified copy | $5 plus $0.25 per page. |
| Small estate below $100 | $12.50. |
| Small estate $20,000-$25,000 | $67.50. |
| DPH vital-record search | $12 search including one certified copy if found. |
Note: Lexington Clerk copy and divorce decree fees were not located in the reviewed official research.
Read Lexington County Case Records
Several Public Index fields need context. Court Agency tells which court or division currently handles the matter. Referred To Master means a Circuit Court civil or equity case has been sent to Master-in-Equity, often in foreclosure. A Disposition Date is a system outcome date and may not be the same as a sentencing date. A document icon means some entries may have documents, but it does not prove every filing is downloadable or free.
Charges and convictions are different. A charge can appear after arrest, in a booking record, on a warrant, or in a filed criminal case. A conviction requires a plea or finding of guilt. Dismissed, not-guilty, discharged, diverted, sealed, or expunged cases require careful reading because the presence of an old charge does not prove a final conviction. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor handles prosecution and eligible expungement applications for Lexington County offenses.
Lexington County Record Limits
Online records can lag behind court events. A bond hearing, warrant service, jail transfer, amended charge, dismissal, or payment can change during the day. If a case is not found, check spelling, business-name variations, broad court defaults, date filters, and the record type. The record may be in Family Court, Probate Court, Municipal Court, federal court, another county, SCDC, or an office counter file that is not posted online.
Note: Verify time-sensitive case, custody, warrant, and payment details with the office that created the record.
Lexington County Court History
Lexington County's court history is tied to the county seat in downtown Lexington and the long use of courthouse functions near East Main Street. The current Judicial Center centralizes Circuit Court, Family Court, Probate Court, Master-in-Equity, Solicitor, PTI, AEP, Drug Court, and Traffic Education functions. The Old Lexington County Courthouse still houses several summary-court and specialty functions, including Central Traffic Court and DUI Court, Preliminary Hearing Court, and Mediation Court.
South Carolina's statewide structure also matters to older and newer records. Family Court became a uniform statewide system by statute in 1976. Probate Court remains county based, and Lexington Probate Court notes legacy estate records from 1865-1994 and marriage records from 1911-1987, while current online searches cover newer estate and marriage index ranges.
Lexington County Court FAQ
Can I search Lexington County court records online?
Yes, many trial-court cases can be searched through the South Carolina Public Index after selecting Lexington County. Family Court uses a separate CMS portal, Probate Court uses its own estate and marriage searches, and current jail bookings use the Sheriff's P2C inmate inquiry.
Where do I get a certified court copy?
Certified Common Pleas, General Sessions, Family Court, and divorce decree copies start with the Lexington County Clerk of Court. Probate and marriage certified copies start with Probate Court. State vital-record reports or certificates start with DPH when the record is within its coverage period.
Is there a public active warrant search?
No official Lexington County public active warrant search was located in the research. Warrant questions should go to the Sheriff's Warrant Division at 803-785-2499 during business hours or the issuing Magistrate, Municipal, Family, or Circuit Court.
Why does a traffic ticket not show in the court index?
The ticket may belong to a municipal court, Central Traffic/DUI Court, a magistrate office, or a court that does not expose that record in the Public Index. The court name on the citation is the first routing clue.
Are federal court records in Lexington County portals?
No. Federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appellate records use federal systems such as PACER, CM/ECF, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and the Fourth Circuit. County portals do not include federal records.