Spartanburg Criminal History Records
Spartanburg is the county seat of Spartanburg County and one of the largest cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Criminal history tied to Spartanburg is distributed across several agencies: the Spartanburg Police Department handles city arrests, the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court maintains case records, and SLED provides statewide background checks. This page walks through how each resource works, what public access is available, and how to navigate the process.
Spartanburg Quick Facts
Spartanburg Police Department Criminal Records
The Spartanburg Police Department is at 145 W. Broad Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306. The non-emergency line is (864) 596-2065. Records requests for incident and accident reports are accepted in person or by mail.
When requesting records from the Spartanburg Police, you will need the date and type of incident along with names of people involved. Per-page fees may apply. Active investigation records are withheld until the investigation is closed. Records that do not match an active case are generally available under South Carolina's public records framework.
Spartanburg Police records cover city-level activity. They do not include Spartanburg County Sheriff cases or records from other agencies. For a complete criminal history in Spartanburg, you need to check the county courts and SLED as well.
Searching Criminal History in Spartanburg
SLED's CATCH portal at catch.sled.sc.gov is the main tool for a statewide criminal history search. The cost is $25. You get results drawn from reporting agencies across South Carolina, covering arrests and convictions from the Spartanburg Police and county courts.
For court-specific records, Spartanburg County Courts maintains a public records page at spartanburgcountycourts.org/public-records. The Spartanburg County Public Index at publicindex.sccourts.org/spartanburg lets you search by name or case number for free. Both tools are useful when looking into criminal history connected to Spartanburg.
The SC DOC Inmate Search at public.doc.state.sc.us can tell you whether a person is or was incarcerated as a result of a Spartanburg conviction. That search is also free.
FOIA and Public Records in Spartanburg
The Freedom of Information Act at S.C. Code Ann. Title 30, Chapter 4 applies to the City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County agencies. FOIA requests to the city can be directed to 145 W. Broad Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306, or by phone at (864) 596-2000.
The city has ten business days to respond. Fees may be charged for copying and staff time. Exempt records include those tied to active investigations, confidential law enforcement methods, and juvenile proceedings. A written request that specifies the record type, the date range, and the persons involved gives the agency what it needs to respond accurately.
Spartanburg criminal history available through FOIA typically includes finalized incident reports, closed case records, and certain court documents. Supplement any FOIA result with a search of the Public Index for the most complete view.
County Court Criminal Records for Spartanburg Residents
The Spartanburg County Clerk of Court is at 180 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306. The phone number is (864) 596-2591. The clerk's website is at spartanburgcountycourts.org/clerk-of-court.
All General Sessions criminal cases, including felonies and serious misdemeanors, are filed at the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court. The clerk keeps indictments, plea records, verdict entries, and sentencing documents. Copies of specific filings require a written request and payment of copy fees.
The Spartanburg County Public Index at publicindex.sccourts.org/spartanburg allows free name-based searches of those records. Spartanburg Municipal Court at 145 W. Broad Street handles lower-level matters and can be reached at (864) 596-2032 for records requests specific to that court.
Criminal History Statutes and Spartanburg
S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-115 is the statute that directs SLED to compile criminal history records from agencies statewide. The Spartanburg Police Department and Spartanburg County courts both report to SLED under this law. When a CATCH search returns Spartanburg criminal history results, they originate from this reporting process.
The Freedom of Information Act at Title 30, Chapter 4 applies to all city and county agencies in Spartanburg. That law sets the process for requesting records, the timeline for responses, and the scope of exemptions.
Expungement under S.C. Code Ann. § 17-1-40 is the third statute to understand when reviewing Spartanburg criminal history. Records that qualify for expungement are physically destroyed and removed from public access. If a Spartanburg resident received an expungement, those records will not surface in a Public Index search, a SLED CATCH result, or a FOIA response.
Expungement in Spartanburg
South Carolina's expungement law, S.C. Code Ann. § 17-1-40, allows courts to order the physical destruction of certain criminal records. Qualifying records include arrests that did not result in conviction, pretrial intervention program completions, and certain first offenses after the applicable waiting period.
In Spartanburg, the expungement petition is filed at the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court. The filing fee is $250. After the court grants the petition, agencies including the Spartanburg Police Department and SLED must destroy the records. The destruction is permanent.
Not every charge qualifies. The statute lists the specific categories of eligible offenses and the waiting periods that apply. If you are researching someone's Spartanburg criminal history and find gaps, an expungement could explain why certain records are absent. The Spartanburg County Clerk at (864) 596-2591 can confirm whether a case number exists in their records, even if the underlying record has been expunged.
Spartanburg County Criminal History
Spartanburg is the county seat of Spartanburg County, and the county handles all criminal filings for the city and surrounding areas. For a complete overview of Spartanburg County criminal history resources, visit the county page.
Nearby South Carolina Cities
The Upstate region includes several cities with local criminal history resources. Choose a city below to learn more.