Case timelines: criminal and civil cases, stage by stage

Ask ten people how long a case takes and you'll get ten answers. They're all partly right. A case timeline depends on the type of case, the court, the county's calendar, and choices the parties make along the way. So we don't give one number. We give the usual order of stages and the things that stretch or shorten each one.

Criminal timelines here start at arrest or charge and run through bond, first appearance, discovery, motions and resolution. Civil timelines start with a filed complaint and service, then move through the answer, discovery, mediation and trial settings. Appeals get their own track, including the Fourth Circuit's published appeal flowchart for federal cases from South Carolina.

An arrest isn't a conviction, and a charge isn't a verdict. Our timelines describe process, not outcomes. When a stage is controlled by an order or a local rule, we say so, and we point you to where that order lives.