Four Lowcountry jails—Berkeley, Colleton, Charleston, and Dorchester counties—have failed South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) inspections every year since 2022 due to overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate medical care, maintenance issues, and security violations like improper inmate separation.
Key Violations
Inspectors cited problems including insufficient toilets, showers, and sinks per inmate, fire code breaches, and health appraisal failures across all facilities. Overcrowding exacerbates these, with Berkeley County holding 468 inmates against a 291 capacity as of early January 2026, and Dorchester at 278 versus 266. Charleston (1,283/1,693) and Colleton (72/96) were under capacity recently but have faced past…..