Georgetown County Sex Offender Registry
The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office maintains sex offender registration records through the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry Tool, known as SORT. Residents can access the Georgetown County SORT portal to search for registered sex offenders by name or address. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office non-emergency dispatch number is (843) 546-5102. South Carolina law under Section 23-3-490 makes these records available to any member of the public at no cost, and the registry is updated regularly as new registrations are submitted and existing records are verified.
Georgetown County Quick Facts
Searching for Sex Offenders in Georgetown County
The Georgetown County SORT portal at georgetown.scor.sled.sc.gov is the primary online tool for searching registered sex offenders in this county. You can search by name to look up a specific person, or enter an address to see all registered offenders within a set distance of that location.
The statewide search at scor.sled.sc.gov is also available and covers all 46 South Carolina counties. Use this if you want to compare records across county lines or if you are checking on someone who may have recently moved into or out of Georgetown County.
The national search tool at NSOPW.gov pulls data from all 50 states. This is useful if you want to know whether a person has a registration history in another state before they arrived in Georgetown County.
For in-person assistance, contact the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. Staff can help with questions about specific registrants, confirm whether a record is current, and explain how the registry is updated. The non-emergency dispatch number is (843) 546-5102.
Georgetown County SORT Portal
The Georgetown County SORT portal is part of the statewide system launched in South Carolina in early 2016 to modernize sex offender management.
The portal displays current registry data for all registered sex offenders living in Georgetown County, drawn directly from SLED's central database.
SLED provides the underlying infrastructure for the registry and ensures that county-level data is synced with the National Sex Offender Public Website. The statewide SORT system serves all 46 counties including Georgetown.
Community notifications generated by SORT allow residents to receive automatic updates when registered offenders move into or out of an area they are monitoring.
Who Must Register as a Sex Offender in Georgetown County
South Carolina Code Section 23-3-430 lists the offenses that require registration. Convictions for criminal sexual conduct, lewd act on a child, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, and a range of related crimes all trigger a registration obligation in South Carolina.
Anyone moving to Georgetown County from another state who carried a registration requirement in their previous state must register with the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office within three days of establishing residence. This applies regardless of how old the original conviction is.
Offenders released from the South Carolina Department of Corrections must register before or at the time of their release. The DOC and local sheriffs coordinate to ensure this happens. You can verify incarceration and release status through the SC Department of Corrections public records search.
Juveniles adjudicated for certain offenses may also be required to register depending on the nature of the offense and the court's determination. Once on the registry, a person remains listed until legally removed or until death.
Registration Tiers and Check-In Requirements
South Carolina divides registered sex offenders into three tiers. Tier I offenders verify their registration once each year. Tier II offenders must appear every six months. Tier III offenders report every 90 days for the rest of their lives, as they received convictions for the most serious covered offenses.
Each in-person visit to the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office requires the offender to confirm their home address, place of employment, vehicle details, and any online identifiers such as email accounts or social media profiles. Photographs are taken at each check-in and submitted to the SLED database.
Any change to the information on file must be reported within three days. This includes a new home address, a new employer, a new vehicle, or new online accounts. Offenders who travel outside South Carolina for seven or more consecutive days must notify the sheriff's office before leaving and again upon return.
Note: Failure to complete a required check-in or failure to report a change in information is a criminal offense. Penalties range from 90 days in jail for a first offense to a felony charge carrying up to five years for a third offense.
Residency Restrictions in Georgetown County
Registered sex offenders in South Carolina cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, licensed childcare facility, or similar child-serving location. This restriction is found in Section 23-3-535 and applies throughout Georgetown County.
Georgetown County includes the historic city of Georgetown along with beach communities, rural areas, and waterway neighborhoods. The county's varied geography means that some areas have a higher density of schools and childcare centers than others. Still, every registered offender must confirm their address is outside a restricted zone before any registration is accepted at that location.
The sheriff's office verifies each proposed address before updating the registry. An offender who tries to register at an address within 1,000 feet of a restricted location will not have the change accepted and may face criminal charges. The restriction is checked at every address change, not only when a person first registers in the county.
Public Access and Legal Protections
Section 23-3-490 of the South Carolina Code makes sex offender registry data public. Any resident may search the registry without giving a reason, and there is no fee for access. The law is designed to give communities open and free access to this information.
At the same time, Section 23-3-510 prohibits using registry information to commit a crime against a registrant. Enhanced penalties apply when registry data is used to facilitate an offense. For misdemeanor offenses, the maximum fine can increase by up to $1,000 and the jail term by up to six months. For felony offenses, the prison sentence can increase by up to five years.
The South Carolina Attorney General's office oversees compliance and can provide guidance on how the law applies in specific situations. For other government records, the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act gives citizens the right to request documents from public agencies.
Cities in Georgetown County
Georgetown serves as the county seat and is the largest city in the county. Other communities include Andrews, Pawleys Island, and Litchfield Beach. All registered sex offenders living in Georgetown County, whether inside city limits or in an unincorporated area, must register with the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office and maintain their registration according to their assigned tier schedule.
Nearby Counties
Georgetown County sits along the South Carolina coast between Horry County to the north and Charleston County to the south. Neighboring counties each have their own SORT portal within the statewide registry system.