The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office is mandated by South Carolina state law to serve the process of the court and will be pleased to help with the service of your legal documents. You may bring them to our office personally or you may mail them to the following address:

101 Ridge Street, Suite 1
St. George, SC 29477

Guidelines

Please be sure that the following guidelines are followed when submitting documents to our office:

• The documents contain all of the proper signatures.
• The documents have been filed with the Clerk of Court. 
• The Clerk of Court’s stamp must appear on the documents. 
• The full name, address and phone number of the party to be served is provided to the Sheriff’s Office. 
• The full name, address and phone number of the individual to whom the affidavit of service is to be delivered is provided to the Sheriff’s Office.
• The appropriate fee is attached.

Fees

The fees collected by the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office for the service of process are set forth in 23-19-10 of the South Carolina Code of Law, 1976, as amended, and are as follows:

Please note the below fees are per service. For example: If three summons & complaints are served the total amount due would be $45 e.g. $15 per summon & complaint.

The fee is per service regardless of the address of the service. For example if a separate summons & complaints is served to three individuals regardless of if all three are being served at the same address/location the fee would be $45 total, $15 per each individual summons & complaint.

Payment

The Dorchester County Sheriff's Office accepts the following forms of payment:

• Cash
• Cashier's Check
• Money Order
• Personal Check Note: Must have a local phone number

What to expect when you have a Judgment or Execution served

There is a $25.00 non-refundable fee.

Judgments/Executions are served in the order they are received by the Sheriff’s Office.

A courtesy letter is mailed to the defendant recommending that the Sheriff’s Office be contacted within ten (10) days for instructions on satisfying the judgment. The defendant is also advised that in accordance with South Carolina law, it is incumbent upon the Sheriff to seek payment in full. Failing to pay the judgment may result in seizure of the defendant’s property. Seized property is sold at public auction to satisfy the judgment and is sold subject to all taxes, liens, encumbrances and exceptions.

A determination is made to see if the defendant has titled assets that are subject to levy.

Personal property must have adequate equity in order for it to be levied upon.

The Plaintiff is responsible for all lawfully incurred expenses pertaining to the levy. This includes, but is not limited to: towing, storage and advertisement.

The Plaintiff may be required to place a deposit with the Sheriff’s Office prior to the seizure of any property. The Sheriff’s Office must receive a deposit prior to any seizure.

Every effort is made by the Sheriff’s Office to bring closure to cases within sixty (60) days. However, due to the volume of Judgments received by the Sheriff’s Office, cases involving the levy of real estate or other unusual circumstances may not be concluded within sixty (60) days.