What Is a Court Docket in Richland County
A docket is the dated list of every event in a case. It records each filing, motion, hearing, order, and continuance in the order they happen. In Richland County, the docket lives inside the case file in the statewide Public Index. When you open a case, the docket section is where you read the case story from start to finish. It tells you whether a case is pending, set for trial, or already disposed.
A court roster is a related tool. A roster is the scheduled list of cases set for a given court term, motion day, trial week, or hearing date. Common Pleas rosters cover jury, non-jury, motion, and settlement calendars. A docket tracks one case over time; a roster groups many cases on one date. Both help you plan around a court appearance. A docket is also not the same as the full case file; it lists the events, while the file holds the actual documents behind each line.
How to Find Richland County Dockets Online
The docket for a single case is in the Richland County Public Index. Court calendars and rosters come from the county court rosters portal, which the county Common Pleas calendars reference. Both run on the South Carolina Judicial Branch system. Turn on cookies and JavaScript first, and add a pop-up exception if a case window does not open.
- Open the Richland County Public Index for a single case, or the court rosters portal for a calendar.
- Pick the court type, such as Circuit Court for Common Pleas or General Sessions.
- Enter a case number, or search by last name with a first name and date range.
- Open the case and scroll to the docket to read each action in date order.
If you need the calendar for a whole court week rather than one case, use the roster selection portal and choose the court, roster type, and date.
Sample Richland County Docket Entry
Each docket line is short but packed. It names the date, the kind of event, the party behind it, and sometimes a link to the document. Reading a few lines together shows the path of the case, such as complaint filed, answer filed, motion heard, and order signed. The table below breaks down a typical entry.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Entry Date | The day the filing or action was recorded by the clerk. |
| Event Type | The action, such as motion filed, hearing held, or order signed. |
| Party Filing | The side that filed the document or asked for the action. |
| Document Link | A link to the filed document, where the court posts it online. |
Document links are not posted in every case; the Public Index is mainly a docket and index system, so many copies still come from the clerk.
Courts That Publish Dockets in Richland County
Most Richland County trial courts feed the Public Index, but coverage varies by court and case status. Circuit Court Common Pleas and General Sessions matters appear, along with Family Court and Probate entries that are not restricted. Magistrate cases may show up depending on the court and the case. Columbia Municipal Court is listed as available in the statewide system as of December 1, 2025.
- Circuit Court, Common Pleas, for civil dockets and rosters.
- Circuit Court, General Sessions, for criminal appearances and terms.
- Family Court for divorce, support, and custody calendars, with restricted matters closed.
- Magistrate and Columbia Municipal Court, where included in the statewide system.
Sealed, juvenile, and adoption matters do not appear in public dockets. For contact details by court, see the Richland County Circuit Court page.
Family Court, Magistrate, and Bond Court Calendars
Not every Richland County calendar runs the same way. Family Court sets divorce, custody, and support matters, but it keeps many files restricted, so its public docket shows less detail than a civil case. The county routes divorce copy questions by year: 2005 and prior divorce decrees through one line, and 2006-and-later divorce, name change, and child support through another. Family Court itself can be reached at 803-576-3320.
Magistrate Courts across the county set their own small-claims and lower-criminal calendars, and the Central Court magistrate handles cases under $7,500. Bond Court at the detention center, phone 803-576-3281, holds bond hearings on a near-daily basis for people recently arrested. These calendars are not always in the statewide index, so a call to the specific court is sometimes the only way to confirm a date.
When you cannot find a hearing online, the Clerk of Court at 803-576-1950 can tell you which court holds the matter and when it is set. The county Criminal Court phone list also breaks out functions by line, such as case roster scheduling at 803-576-1932 and General Sessions appearances through the Solicitor's office at 803-576-1800. Using the right number saves a long hold, since a single main line cannot answer every roster question. For divorce and family dockets, the year-based split decides which clerk line to call.
Common Pleas and General Sessions Rosters
Court rosters drive the trial calendar in Richland County. Common Pleas rosters group civil cases by jury, non-jury, motion, and settlement-hearing dates. General Sessions handles the criminal side; the county Criminal Court page lists case roster scheduling at 803-576-1932 and General Sessions appearances through the Solicitor's office at 803-576-1800. The Clerk of Court manages the civil rosters and motion scheduling for Common Pleas.
If you are a party or an attorney, the roster tells you when to appear. If you are tracking a case, the roster shows whether it has been called, continued, or reset. Rosters change often, so confirm the date with the Clerk before you travel downtown to the Judicial Center.
Note: Court rosters can change with little notice, so always confirm a court date with the Clerk of Court before relying on a posted roster.
Docket vs. Full Case Record
People often confuse the docket with the full case file. The docket is the list of events. The full record holds the actual documents, such as motions, exhibits, and signed orders. For tracking progress, the docket is enough. For legal review or evidence, you need the full file, which may take a fee or a clerk visit.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | List of dated entries | Full filed documents |
| Access | Often online and free | May need a fee or a clerk visit |
| Use | Track case progress | Legal review, certified copies, evidence |
For full files and certified copies, see Richland County court records.
How to Read a Richland County Docket
Docket lines use shorthand. A case number that starts with the year and then CP marks a Common Pleas civil case; GS marks General Sessions. The 40 in the number is the Richland County code. Common entries include complaint filed, summons issued, answer filed, motion filed, order signed, and notice of appeal. A hearing line shows the date, time, courtroom, and judge.
Disposition terms tell you the outcome. "Disposed" means the case is closed. "Dismissed" means it ended without a judgment for the filer. "Continuance" means a hearing was pushed to a later date. In criminal dockets, watch for plea, sentence, and bond entries. Read the full list, not just one line, since a single entry rarely tells the whole story.
Dates matter as much as labels. A docket can show a hearing set weeks out, then a continuance that resets it, then a final order much later. The gap between the filing date and the disposition date tells you how long the case ran. If the most recent entry is months old and the case still reads pending, it may be waiting on a roster call or a ruling. When the entries stop and a final order appears, the matter is usually done, though an appeal can reopen the file under a new case path.
Browser Requirements for Richland County Dockets
The South Carolina Judicial Branch system has a few technical rules. Cookies and JavaScript must be on, or the docket search will not run. Some browsers block the pop-up window that holds the case detail, so you may need to add a pop-up exception for publicindex.sccourts.org. If a search returns nothing, check the spelling, widen the date range, or try a different court type. A missing case is not always a closed case; it may sit in a court that does not feed the public system.
The Judicial Branch has also posted scam alerts about fake emails and texts that claim to be from the courts. The courts do not ask people to scan a QR code or call a number in a text to clear a docket or pay a fine. When in doubt, confirm any court date through the Clerk of Court or the official portal, not through a message you did not expect.