Beaufort County Clerk of Court
The primary court-records clerk for Beaufort County is the Beaufort County Clerk of Court. The South Carolina Judicial Branch identifies the Clerk as The Hon. Jerri Ann Roseneau. The office serves Circuit Court records, including Common Pleas civil matters and General Sessions criminal matters, and is linked to Family Court records and resources. The Clerk's online page also links case records, court rosters, online payments, judgments, and department contacts.
The Clerk of Court office is separate from Probate Court, Magistrate Court, Municipal Court, and the Register of Deeds. Probate Court keeps estate, guardianship, conservatorship, commitment, and marriage-license records. Magistrate and Municipal Courts handle many summary criminal and traffic files. The Register of Deeds is not the secondary court-records clerk for this build because the state map identifies a unified Clerk of Court structure for court records.
Beaufort County Clerk of Court
Clerk: Jerri Ann Roseneau
102 Ribaut Road, Suite 208
Beaufort, SC 29902
Mailing: Post Office Drawer 1128, Beaufort, SC 29901
843-255-5050
Fax: 843-255-9412
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Beaufort County Clerk Duties
The Clerk of Court is the records office for Circuit Court case files and related court functions. Civil matters are handled through the Common Pleas side of Circuit Court. Criminal matters are handled through General Sessions. The county Clerk page lists separate contacts for civil and criminal matters: civil at 843-255-5050 and coccp@bcgov.net, and criminal at 843-255-5057.
The fee schedule screenshot was sourced from the Beaufort County Clerk fee schedule.
The Clerk fee page is central for Beaufort County Clerk of Court records because copy, certification, exemplification, search, and filing fees are listed there.
- Maintain Common Pleas civil case records, including complaints, motions, orders, judgments, and lis pendens filings.
- Maintain General Sessions criminal case records, including charges, hearings, pleas, dispositions, and sentencing events.
- Support Family Court record access where public access and court rules allow.
- Provide public index, roster, judgment, payment, copy, certification, and exemplification access channels.
- Collect filing, search, copy, certification, and other fees listed by the Clerk's Office.
Request Beaufort Clerk Certified Copies
A certified copy is a court copy with Clerk certification that the copy is official. An exemplified copy is a higher-authentication copy often needed outside the court's jurisdiction. Online Public Index entries may help locate the case, but they are not certified copies. The request should name the case and document with enough detail for staff to identify the file.
Use the case number first if it is known. If the case number is unknown, provide full party names, the court division, case type, approximate filing date, and the document requested. For mailed requests, include requester contact information, return method, payment, and a self-addressed stamped envelope when a paper return is needed.
- Search the Beaufort County Public Index to find or confirm the case number.
- Identify whether the file is Common Pleas, General Sessions, or Family Court.
- List the exact document needed, such as judgment, order, disposition, pleading, transcript, or certified copy.
- Contact or submit the request to the Clerk of Court with the required fee and return instructions.
- Ask for certification or exemplification up front if the copy must be used for official proof.
Note: A Public Index printout is useful for lookup, but it is not the same as a certified Clerk copy.
Beaufort Clerk Request Details
No separate Clerk records-request PDF was located on the Clerk page. Practical written requests should include the fields below so staff can find the Beaufort County Clerk of Court record, price the copy, and return it correctly. If the request concerns a county department record rather than a court case file, the county JustFOIA portal may be the better channel.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | No, but preferred | Use the official Public Index case number when available. |
| Party Names | Yes | Include full names and business names, plus known aliases if relevant. |
| Court Division | Yes | Common Pleas, General Sessions, or Family Court helps route the search. |
| Document Type | Yes | Name the judgment, order, pleading, disposition, transcript, or other document. |
| Copy Type | Yes | State plain, certified, or exemplified copy. |
| Requester Contact | Yes | Provide name, phone, mailing address, and return method. |
| Payment and SASE | When mailed | Include payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope if required. |
Beaufort County Clerk Fees
The Clerk fee schedule lists filing, search, copy, certification, and court-service amounts. Payment notes say cashier's checks, money orders, business checks, and cash are accepted. Exact change is required for cash, and personal checks are not accepted. Fee amounts can change, so users should verify the current schedule before mailing payment.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Records search: civil, judgment, and General Sessions | $25.00 |
| Certification, all documents | $3.00 |
| Exemplified copy | $4.00 |
| Copies per page | $0.50 |
| Copies per page processed by Clerk staff | $0.55 |
| Judgment transcript | $35.00 |
| Summons and complaint | $150.00 |
| Civil appeal | $150.00 |
| Civil motions requiring judge signature, with listed exceptions | $25.00 |
| Public Defender application | $40.00 |
Beaufort Clerk Judgment Records
The Clerk's judgment page is a Beaufort County Clerk of Court records channel for judgment index research. The research capture noted that the judgment data was listed as good through June 11, 2026 and last dated June 12, 2026 at 5:20 p.m. when inspected. Judgment transcripts have a separate fee on the Clerk fee schedule, and a records search fee may also apply.
The judgment-index screenshot was sourced from the Beaufort County Clerk judgment index page.
Judgment pages can help locate liens or civil judgment information, but official copies and transcripts still route through Clerk fee and copy procedures.
Beaufort Clerk and FOIA Limits
Beaufort County publishes a countywide FOIA page and a JustFOIA portal for county public records. Those channels help with county department records, but court case files, certified court copies, sealed cases, and confidential court material are governed by court access rules and the office that holds the record. Use the Clerk for Circuit and Family Court records. Use Probate Court for probate and marriage files. Use Magistrate or Municipal Court for their own summary matters.
The county FOIA screenshot was captured from the Beaufort County FOIA page.
FOIA can be the right route for county agency records, but the Clerk remains the point of contact for Clerk-held court case files.
The county FOIA FAQ states that Beaufort County has 10 business days to make a determination for records less than 24 months old and 20 business days for older records. After that, the county has 30 or 35 calendar days to make non-exempt records available depending on the age of the records. Those timelines apply to county FOIA requests, not necessarily to court-copy processing.
The FAQ image came from the Beaufort County FOIA FAQ.
The FAQ is useful when a request concerns county public records outside the Clerk's official court-record copy process.
Beaufort Clerk Forms and Portals
The Clerk page links several service points rather than one universal form. Public case summaries are searched in Public Index. Court rosters are searched separately. Online payments use the Beaufort payment portal. Family Court has its own public and attorney portals listed in the research, but the exact FCCMS public portal fields were not inspectable from this environment.
- Public Index - search Beaufort County public case summaries.
- Court Rosters - review court calendars and roster information.
- Online Payments - pay eligible tickets or cases with a case or ticket number and last name.
- Family Court - review local family case types and contact information.
Beaufort Clerk Mail and Office Access
Mail and office requests should be precise. Include the case number if known, the case caption or party names, the court division, the document requested, whether the copy must be certified or exemplified, requester contact details, payment, and return instructions. For civil matters, the Clerk lists coccp@bcgov.net. For criminal matters, the Clerk lists 843-255-5057. Family Court contact information is separate and includes the 102 Ribaut Road courthouse area.
For roster questions, the county Clerk page directs Common Pleas jury and motions questions to jroseneau@bcgov.net. General Sessions roster questions are directed to the Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor, Fourteenth Circuit Public Defender, or private attorney for case-specific information. Master-in-Equity motions questions go to Judge James J. Wegmann's assistant Heather McLeod at 843-255-5710 or hmcleod@bcgov.net, while foreclosure questions go to Jackie Grey at 843-255-5713 or jgrey@bcgov.net.