Search Union County Court Records

How to Search Union County Court Records

The main online starting point is the South Carolina Judicial Branch Case Records Search page. Select Union County, listed by the state as Circuit Number 16 and County Number 44, then open the Union County Public Index. The direct county endpoint is publicindex.sccourts.org/union/publicindex, but the research file notes that the form is browser-gated: cookies and JavaScript must be enabled, and some browsers need a popup exception before case detail opens.

Use the online index for case lookup and the Union County Court Rosters endpoint for court-date context. If a record is not visible, the fallback depends on the court. Circuit Court, Common Pleas, General Sessions, and Family Court files go through the Clerk of Court. Magistrate Court files may require the Magistrate Court office. Municipal citations may be held by City of Union Municipal Court or Jonesville Municipal Court. Probate files are separate from the Clerk's Public Index.

1. Open the state Case Records Search page and choose Union County from the county list.
2. Use a modern browser with cookies and JavaScript enabled before opening the Public Index.
3. Search with the case number if known; otherwise use names, court type, and a filing or hearing date range where the live portal allows it.
4. Allow popups for publicindex.sccourts.org if a case-detail page will not open.
5. Use the court roster link for hearing-date research and contact the Clerk of Court for certified copies or records not shown online.

The Union County Clerk of Court is Stephanie C. Kitchens. The Clerk's office is at 210 West Main Street, Union, SC 29379, with mailing address P.O. Box 703, Union, SC 29379, office phone 864-429-1630, and fax 864-429-1715. The same office supports General Sessions, Common Pleas, Family Court, child support, and related filing functions.

Union County Court Records Search Fields

The Public Index fields could not be fully inspected in terminal testing because the live site returned a browser-gated response. The state landing page confirms the practical search requirements, and Union County records should be approached with the standard case identifiers used by South Carolina court indexes. Treat exact labels as live-browser fields, not fixed text copied from a static page.

The state also announced that home address information is no longer displayed on the Public Index for new and existing cases as of January 1, 2026. A missing party address should not be read as a missing case record.

Types of Union County Court Records

Union County records are split by court function. Circuit Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction. Its civil division is Court of Common Pleas, and its criminal division is Court of General Sessions. Family Court handles divorce, support, custody, juvenile, and related matters. Probate Court handles estates, marriage licenses and certificates, guardianships, conservatorships, and certain commitments. Magistrate and Municipal Courts handle local summary matters, including many traffic, ordinance, lower-level criminal, warrant, bond, and small civil matters.

• Civil records include complaints, answers, motions, service documents, judgments, orders, and docket entries in Common Pleas or Magistrate civil cases.
• Criminal records include General Sessions prosecutions, summary criminal cases, warrants or charging documents, bond information, pleas, dispositions, and sentencing entries.
• Family Court records can include divorce, child support, custody, and juvenile material, but party restrictions and privacy limits are common.
• Probate records include public estate files, wills, accountings, petitions, guardianships, conservatorships, and marriage-license related records.
• Traffic records may appear in Summary Court systems, City of Union nCourt payment search, or the statewide Traffic Ticket Search.

For the state court organization behind those records, see the Union County Circuit Court page.

The South Carolina Judicial Branch Circuit Court overview is the source for the Common Pleas and General Sessions division structure.

That division matters in Union County because a civil judgment and a felony prosecution can both be Circuit Court records, but they are indexed and interpreted as different case types.

Family Court is a separate trial-court function with domestic and juvenile jurisdiction.

Union County Family Court records should be requested carefully because child-support and sensitive family-file information may be restricted to parties or withheld from ordinary public lookup.

What Union County Court Records Show

A Union County case record is usually a combination of index data, docket events, and filed documents. The online result may show enough to identify a case, but it may not include every document image or every restricted detail. A certified copy, complete file review, or older paper record request still goes through the office that maintains the file.

Public Access Framework for Union County Court Records

South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act, Title 30, Chapter 4, supports access to nonexempt public records held by public bodies, and Title 30, Chapter 1 requires public-record custodians to preserve and secure records. Court files also follow court-specific rules, statutory confidentiality, and local office procedures, so the most practical first step is usually the Clerk, Magistrate, Municipal Court, or Probate Court that maintains the file.

The Probate Court illustrates the office-specific rule. It allows the public to view public probate files in person during office hours, but it generally will not search records by phone, mail, or email because it does not have staff for searches. Written probate copy requests must identify the case or decedent, specific documents, mailing address, and contact phone. The Clerk page likewise gives special rules for child-support and alimony printouts: clients must come in person or mail a self-addressed stamped envelope, and the office will not discuss case-file information unless the requester is a party.

The South Carolina Court of Appeals overview is useful when a Union County case has moved beyond trial-court records.

Appeals can create a separate appellate record even when the underlying Union County file remains with the original trial court.

Records That Are Sealed or Confidential in Union County

Restricted records include juvenile records, sealed or expunged criminal records, adoption records, confidential mental-health and chemical-dependency commitment records, and sensitive Family Court material. The Judicial Branch describes expungement as a process that removes a criminal conviction or charge from public access by sealing or destroying state records of the arrest, charge, or conviction. Public search results should not be treated as a complete history where expungement may apply.

For General Sessions charges, South Carolina routes criminal expungement administration through the solicitor. In Union County that means the Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor. The solicitor sends the application to SLED to verify eligibility, obtains required signatures when eligible, and returns the order process through the courts. For Magistrate and Municipal Court charges, summary courts must expunge certain not-guilty, dismissed, or nolle prossed criminal cases subject to exceptions.

The Probate Code source is relevant because probate access and estate filings use separate court channels rather than the Public Index.

Probate records can be public, but estate access, copy fees, and searches are managed by the Union County Probate Court rather than by the Clerk of Court's case index.

In-Person Court Record Requests

For most Circuit Court and Family Court records, go through the Clerk of Court at 210 West Main Street. Bring the case number if known, the full party names, the court type, and an approximate filing or hearing date. The Clerk's page does not publish plain-copy, certified-copy, or exemplified-copy fees in accessible HTML, so call before ordering copies. Leave prohibited items out of the courthouse; the Clerk lists weapons, defensive sprays, stun devices, needles, sharp instruments, and similar items as prohibited, and cell phones or electronics must be turned off in the courtroom.