Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

South Carolina 2019

the state flag of South Carolina

The Jail System

South Carolina has 50 jails in 46 counties. The jail population in 2019 was 12,820.

The Prison System

As of December 31, 2019, the number of prisoners under the jurisdiction of South Carolina correctional authorities was 18,608 located in 21 state prisons and held in custody of private prisons or local jails. State operated facilities had a staff of 4,600 employees and a budget of $514,011,239.

The Community Corrections System

As of December 31, 2019, South Carolina's community corrections population was 31,328 under probation and 4,732 under parole.

Methodology

The National Institute of Corrections depends on publicly available information to provide the information on this page.

The statistics for budgets, employee positions, and state prison facilities data come from state departments of corrections (DOCs), other state reports and state agencies. If data is missing for a state, then we were unable to find that information.

The data on prison population and incarcerate rate come from the Prisoner in 2019 report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). That report includes the count of prisoners in the unified systems of Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Violent and property crime rates are provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The number of counties per state comes from the United States Census Bureau.

Current jail population by state is unavailable. The most recent census was conducted by BJS in 2014.

Rates (Per 100K)

Incarceration Rate
353
Violent Crime Rate
511
Property Crime Rate
2,940
Probationers
770
Parolees
116

Populations

Prison Population
18,608
Jail Population
12,820
Parole Population
4,732
Probation Population
31,328

Facilities

Number of State Prison Facilities
21 facilities
Number of Jail Facilities
50

Prisons

Cost Per Inmate
$ 23,673
Employee Positions
4,600
Prison Budget
$514,011,239