S.C. E-Filing Attorney Guide: ARG-21-Using the Trial Court Public Index

ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

Accessing the Public Index

1. Go to www.sccourts.org.

2. Click the RESOURCES tab.

3. Click Court Records – Trial Courts.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

The Case Records Search window opens with a map of South Carolina counties and a list of

counties.

4. Select the county by either clicking the county on the map or searching from the search bar.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

A Disclaimer window opens. Disclaimers may vary from county to county and should be read before

continuing.

5. Read the disclaimer, which explains the court's terms and your responsibilities for the

information found in the Public Index.

6. Click Accept to indicate that you agree to these terms and conditions.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

7. Use this screen to enter search criteria to locate cases. You can search by:

• Case #

• Name

• Action Type

• Date Type and Date Range

• Tax Map #

You can use these filters to limit your search results:

• Court Type and Court Agency

• Case Type and SubType, such as civil, criminal, or appeal

• Case party (name or business) or a party type (defendant or plaintiff)

• Action Type, which locates specific actions on a case, such as ADRs, foreclosures, or

motions. Search by entering an Action Type, Date Type, and a date range for when the

case was filed or disposed, when a judgment was issued, or when an arrest was made.

• Tax Map numbers for real estate cases.

• Civil case searches can be filtered by Lis Pendens cases, judgments, and specifically by

judgments for or judgments against within a date range.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

The Name Search Option allows you to search for a case party by the beginning letters of a word

or a partial word. For example, a case party is Jimmy Parker d/b/a Parker & Sons Trucking, but the

company is also known as Jimmy's Trucks. You could enter Truck in the Last Name/Business field

and click Contains, and the search would find any name that contains the word “truck”.

8. Click Search when your search criteria have been entered. All cases that meet the criteria are

listed in the grid.

The search results will match all the search criteria you enter into these fields. If

you do not have the case number, best practice is to begin with a simple search

Note for one or two filters. You can then include more search criteria to narrow your

search, if needed.

9. Click a Case Number link (Defendant or Plaintiff) to review details on the case.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

10. Click the enabled tabs (shown in Bold) for more information, such as actions filed on the case

and financial information, such as fines, fees, and payments.

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ARG-21: Using the Trial Court Public Index

Attorney Reference Guide

11. Click Switch View to list all information on one screen. Scroll down to see Actions, Financials,

etc.

12. Click the double arrow icon for cases with multiple defendants or plaintiffs. This icon toggles

between showing one or all case parties.

13. Click the document icons ( ) to view document images. Document images may not be

available in all counties or all cases.

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