Richland County Clerk of Court Office
Richland County has a unified Clerk of Court for Circuit and Family Court records. The Clerk is Jeanette W. McBride. The office is in the Richland County Judicial Center at 1701 Main Street, Room 205, Columbia, SC 29201. The main phone is 803-576-1950, fax is 803-576-1785, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 2766, Columbia, SC 29202. Published hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Clerk's office areas include Common Pleas, General Sessions, and Family Court. Common Pleas covers civil Circuit Court records. General Sessions covers higher-level criminal case filings. Family Court handles divorce, custody, support, name changes, child support, and related family matters. The South Carolina court structure map identifies Richland County's primary trial court as Circuit Court, with Magistrate Court and Municipal Court serving as lower courts.
Richland County Clerk of Court
Clerk: Jeanette W. McBride
1701 Main Street, Room 205
Columbia, SC 29201
803-576-1950
Fax: 803-576-1785
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Richland County Clerk Duties
The Richland County Clerk of Court source describes an office that manages court records and oversees civil, criminal, and family court matters. Civil Court contact is routed to Room 205 and phone 803-576-1947. Criminal Court lists the Clerk phone as 803-576-1950 and points General Sessions criminal records to the Judicial Center, Room 205, with Criminal Records on the 4th floor for copy requests.
- Maintain Common Pleas civil filings, judgments, motions, orders, and related records.
- Maintain General Sessions criminal records filed with the Clerk, including warrants, indictments, sentence sheets, and bond papers.
- Maintain Family Court filings such as divorce, name-change, child-support, and related family records.
- Route certified-copy, transcript, fine-payment, roster, and records questions to the proper phone line.
- Separate Circuit and Family Court records from Magistrate, Summary Court, Municipal Court, and statewide criminal-history checks.
The county's General Sessions source is shown in the Richland criminal court reference.
General Sessions is where many higher-court criminal documents become Clerk-maintained records.
Request Richland County Certified Copies
Certified copies are ordered from the office that keeps the case record. For Clerk-maintained Circuit and Family Court files, identify the division first, then provide the case number, party names, document type, and a clear mailing or pickup plan. General Sessions copy requests may be mailed or made in person at 1701 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201. The county research says Criminal Records is on the 4th floor.
- Search the Public Index or court papers for the case number, party names, court type, and filing year.
- Call the correct Clerk routing number before payment if the document is older, sealed, family-related, or not visible online.
- Submit the copy request in person or by mail with the document type, number of copies, requester contact details, and payment method requested by the office.
- For criminal General Sessions records, ask whether the document is a warrant, indictment, sentence sheet, bond paper, or related filed record.
- Use SLED CATCH for a statewide criminal-history check because the Clerk does not certify all criminal history.
Richland County Record Request Fields
The research did not locate a single Clerk copy-request form for every Circuit and Family Court record, so the practical field inventory comes from the county's routing instructions and the South Carolina transcript request fields. A complete request reduces back-and-forth and helps the Clerk route the record to civil, criminal, or family staff.
| Request Field | Required Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number or docket number | Strongly needed | Needed for Public Index, transcript, and copy routing. |
| Party names | Yes when case number is missing | Use full names and business names when known. |
| Court division | Yes | Common Pleas, General Sessions, or Family Court. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include decree, judgment, indictment, sentence sheet, bond paper, or order. |
| Proceeding date | Needed for transcripts | Transcript requests also need judge, counsel, party, and reporter details. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Include phone, mailing address, and email when available. |
Richland County Clerk Fees
Not every Clerk copy or certification fee was located in official Richland pages reviewed, so the page should not invent those amounts. The research did locate Family Court filing and motion fees, transcript payment rules, and the county FOIA fee method for non-court public-record requests. Certified copy costs should be confirmed through the Clerk routing number tied to the division.
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Family Court new case filing | $150 |
| Family Court motions | Generally $25 |
| Circuit or Family certified copies | Fee not located in official Richland pages reviewed; call the Clerk line. |
| Transcript | Paid; no free or reduced transcript because of indigent status. |
| County FOIA search/retrieval/redaction | Prorated gross hourly rate of the lowest-paid qualified employee. |
| FOIA off-site retrieval | $25 |
| FOIA deposit | Up to 25%; total cost due before non-exempt records are released. |
The court and probate fee statute source appears in the South Carolina fee statute reference.
State fee law is useful context, but local copy totals should still be confirmed with the office holding the file.
Richland County Clerk Phone Routing
Richland County publishes detailed phone routing for court-record users. The list matters because a single Clerk phone number may not be the fastest route for divorce decrees, fines, judgments, rosters, transcripts, warrants, indictments, sentencing papers, or traffic tickets.
| Topic | Phone or Office |
|---|---|
| General Sessions appearances | 803-576-1800, Solicitor's Office |
| Case roster scheduling | 803-576-1932 |
| Civil records, certified copies, 2005 and prior divorce decrees | 803-576-1952 |
| Divorces 2006-present, how-to, name changes, child support | 803-576-3326 |
| Fine payments | 803-576-1949 |
| Judgments | 803-576-3371 or 803-576-1938 |
| Juror questions | 803-576-1931 |
| Warrants, indictments, sentencing, tickets | 803-576-1939, Criminal Records |
| Traffic Court | 803-576-2300 |
Richland County Clerk Record Limits
The Clerk does not maintain Magistrate Court or Summary Court charges, and the office does not perform a certified records check for all criminal history. For full criminal background checks, Richland County directs users to SLED at 803-737-9000 or SLEDCATCH. This boundary is important for anyone trying to match an arrest, jail charge, traffic ticket, or municipal case to a Clerk-maintained Circuit Court file.
The county traffic court page appears in the Richland Traffic Court source.
Traffic and lower-court records may use different access channels than the Clerk's Circuit and Family Court files.
Richland County Clerk Access Rules
Bond Court sits inside Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center at 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, and can affect early criminal paperwork before a case reaches later court stages. South Carolina FOIA also applies to non-exempt public records held by public bodies, while court rules can control judicial records, sealing, and redaction. Rule 41.2 places redaction responsibility on parties and counsel, and confidential reference lists are excluded from Public Index.
The Richland Bond Court source shows how bond matters connect to early criminal records.
Bond records can be part of a General Sessions file, but the hearing location and payment rules are separate.
The South Carolina FOIA source appears in the Title 30 Chapter 4 statute reference.
FOIA supports access to non-exempt public records, but it does not override sealed, confidential, or restricted court-record rules.
The redaction rule source is shown in the South Carolina Rule 41.2 reference.
Redaction rules explain why some identifiers or confidential documents may be absent from public case images.