Find Charleston County Deed Records

Charleston County Register Records

The State Court Structure Map identifies the Register of Deeds as Charleston County's secondary clerk-type office. Karen Hollings is the Register of Deeds. The office is at 101 Meeting Street, Suite 200, Charleston, SC 29401-2249, phone (843) 958-4800, fax (843) 958-4803. The office is close to the 100 Broad Street courthouse, but its record set is different from court case records.

Register of Deeds records are land and recording records. They may be relevant when a lawsuit affects real property, but they are not the same as Common Pleas, General Sessions, Family Court, Probate Court, Magistrate Court, or Municipal Court case files. If a search involves a deed, mortgage, lien instrument, plat, or recorded estate document from another county, start with the Register of Deeds. If it involves a complaint, order, judgment, sentence, divorce decree, custody order, or docket entry, start with the court that issued the case record.

Charleston County Deeds vs Cases

Charleston County civil Circuit Court records are filed in Common Pleas and searched through the Public Index. Those records can include foreclosure lawsuits, lis pendens, judgments, tax-map-linked disputes, and orders. The Register of Deeds records the land instruments. A foreclosure action may have both a Common Pleas case file and recorded land documents, but each office keeps a different part of the paper trail.

Charleston County Recording Redactions

The Public Index disclaimer states that a person may request the Clerk or Register of Deeds to remove protected identifiers from online images or copies. Covered identifiers include Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, state ID numbers, passport numbers, checking or savings account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, PINs, codes, and passwords. The request must be in writing and must identify the page number.

South Carolina Title 30 Chapter 5 governs recording generally, while court case access is routed through court systems, Rule 610, or public records laws depending on the record holder. The distinction helps avoid sending a case-file request to the land recording office or a deed request to the Clerk counter.

1. Identify whether the record is a land instrument or a court case document.
2. Use the Register of Deeds for recorded land documents.
3. Use the Clerk of Court for Common Pleas, General Sessions, and Family Court files.
4. Use written redaction requests for protected identifiers in online recording images.

Charleston Deed Court Overlap

Register of Deeds records can overlap with court records without becoming court records. A Common Pleas foreclosure case may generate orders, judgments, lis pendens entries, and a Master-in-Equity referral in the court file. The deed, mortgage, release, or later recorded instrument belongs in the recording system. Searching both offices may be needed when a civil lawsuit affects title or real property.

The Public Index search tips also mention tax map searches, lis pendens searches, judgment searches, and associated Common Pleas cases. Those tools help connect a property dispute to its court case. They do not replace the Register of Deeds for recorded instruments. If the goal is title history, recording date, deed party names, or mortgage documents, the land-record office remains the correct place to start.

Request Charleston Deed Records

Charleston County research identifies the Register of Deeds office at 101 Meeting Street, Suite 200, near the main courthouse at 100 Broad Street. A record request should identify the grantor or grantee name, property or tax-map detail if known, document type, approximate recording date, and whether a plain copy or certified copy is needed. If the record is tied to a pending court case, keep the court case number separate from the recording information.

1. Decide whether the document is a recorded land instrument or a court case filing.
2. Gather party names, property identifiers, recording dates, book/page or instrument numbers if known.
3. Contact the Register of Deeds for recording-copy procedures and current copy fees.
4. Contact the Clerk of Court when the document is a pleading, order, judgment, docket entry, or certified court copy.
5. Use the written redaction route if an online recording image includes protected identifiers.

Charleston Register Access Limits

The Register of Deeds page belongs in the final manifest because Charleston County has a split record structure. That does not make the Register a court clerk for Circuit Court case files. The office is relevant to court-record users when a case touches real property, when a judgment or lis pendens needs to be compared with recording records, or when a probate estate record has a recording step. It is not the right source for General Sessions charges, Family Court decrees, Probate Court estate status, inmate records, or active warrants.

South Carolina public-record access also has privacy limits. The county's public-index disclaimer gives a redaction route for protected identifiers on online images or copies. FOIA may apply to county records outside ordinary recording and court-copy channels, while Rule 610 applies to South Carolina Judicial Branch records. A deed request, a court-copy request, and a county FOIA request should be kept separate so each office receives the type of request it can process.