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Appearing in Court
Prohibited Items
Food, drink, electronic devices, and all weapons are strictly prohibited from the building. Do not attempt to bring in any prohibited items. Leave these items at home or in your car. The court will not store prohibited items in the lobby for pick-up.
Court Appearance Attire
Municipal Court is a place of business and visitors should wear clean, fitted clothes. A shirt and shoes are required. Please take your hat off before entering any courtroom.
Unacceptable attire includes:
- Flip-flop style shoes
- Hats
- Muscle shirts, T-shirts, clothing indicating gang affiliation or other clothing with:
- Depictions
- Obscene
- Offensive
- Pictures
- Racist
- Sexist
- Slogans
- Suggestive words
- Vulgar
- Provocative clothing designed, styled or worn to provoke emotion or disrupt or distract
- Shirts that are torn, dirty, and ragged
- Shorts, cut-offs, baggy pants
Permitted Services
Court staff is allowed to:
- Explain and answer questions about how the court works
- Provide you with the number of local referral service, legal services program, and other services where you can get legal information
- Give you general information about court rules, procedures, and practices
- Provide court schedules and information on how to get a case scheduled
- Provide you information from your case file
- Provide you with court forms and instructions that are available
- Usually answer questions about court deadlines and how to compute them
More Information
Since court staff may not know the answers to all questions about court rules, procedures, and practices, staff have been instructed not to answer questions if we do not know the correct answers. For additional information, please contact a lawyer or your local law library, or call South Carolina Lawyer Referral Service at 800-868-2274 or the Public Defender at 843-821-9800.
Prohibited Services
Court staff is not allowed to:
- Tell you whether or not you should bring your case to court
- Tell you what words to use in your court papers, however, they can check your papers for completeness
- Tell you what to say in court
- Give you an opinion about what will happen if you bring your case to court
- Talk to the judge for you
- Let you talk to the judge outside of court
- Change an order signed by the judge or change a disposition/sentence by a judge
- Advise you if you need to retain counsel or not
More Information
Since court staff may not know the answers to all questions about court rules, procedures, and practices, staff have been instructed not to answer questions if we do not know the correct answers. For additional information, please contact a lawyer or your local law library, or call South Carolina Lawyer Referral Service at 800-868-2274 or the Public Defender at 843-821-9800.
Respect for the Court
Please observe the following guidelines when you are in the courtroom:
- Arrive early and be prepared
- Cell phones or activated pagers are not allowed in the courtroom
- Gum chewing, tobacco, or newspapers are not allowed in the courtroom
- If you bring your children, have someone with you who can take the child out if he/she becomes loud or disruptive
- When your case is called, go to the podium
- Address the judge as "Your Honor"
- Speak only when instructed or given permission
- Do not interrupt
- When you answer questions, be brief and to the point
- Answer the question you were asked and stop
- Do not argue, especially with the judge
- Use formal English, not slang
- Do not approach the judge’s bench without permission
- Do not enter or depart the courtroom excessively and do not slam the doors
- Be patient