Court case tracking: follow a case from the official record, not a rumor

Most people start tracking a case the same way. They type a name into a search engine and land on a background-check site that wants $19.95. You don't need that. South Carolina's Judicial Branch runs a free Public Index for trial courts, and Horry County has its own search page on it. You can usually look up a case by party name or case number and see charges, hearing dates and outcomes.

Here's the catch. The Judicial Branch itself says the index isn't the official record of action, and recent entries can take time to appear. Some municipal courts aren't on it at all. So this section covers the habits that keep you accurate: saving the case number from the first document you get, checking after every court date, and calling the clerk when the screen and your paperwork don't match.

We also care about privacy here. As of January 1, 2026, the South Carolina Public Index stopped showing home addresses. We won't republish personal details just because they're findable, and we'll never pretend to have access that the public doesn't.