What to Do After a Wrongful Arrest in South Carolina
If you were wrongfully arrested in South Carolina, write down what happened while it’s fresh, get medical care if you were hurt, and be careful what you say to police or post online before you talk to a lawyer. Yes, you can sue for a wrongful arrest, but South Carolina only gives you two years to bring a false imprisonment claim (S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-550(1)). Don’t wait to find out where you stand. Wilson Law Group, LLC represents people across South Carolina after wrongful arrests and police misconduct, on contingency. No fee unless we recover for you.
What Counts as a Wrongful Arrest in South Carolina?
A wrongful arrest happens when police take you into custody without probable cause, meaning they had no reasonable, objective basis to believe you’d committed a crime. That covers a few different situations. An officer arrests the wrong person because of a bad tip or mistaken identity. An officer arrests you based on a hunch, not facts. An officer piles on a resisting-arrest charge to cover for using too much force in the first place.
It’s not the same as getting arrested with probable cause present and later having the charges dropped. Prosecutors drop cases for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with whether the arrest itself was lawful. What matters is whether the officer had probable cause the moment they put handcuffs on you, not how the case turned out later.
What Should You Do in the First 24 Hours?
A few things help, whether you talk to us or someone else:
- Write down what happened while you remember it clearly, including badge numbers, patrol car numbers, the time, the location, and the names of anyone who saw it.
- Get medical care and keep the records, even if you think you weren’t hurt. Rough handling during an arrest doesn’t always show up right away.
- Save anything you photographed or recorded, and don’t post it publicly before talking to a lawyer.
- Don’t give a statement beyond identifying yourself, and don’t sign anything from the department, until you understand how it affects your case.
That last one trips people up the most. It feels natural to want to explain yourself and clear things up. But anything you say can end up in the officer’s report, and it’s a lot harder to walk back a statement than it is to just stay quiet until you’ve talked to someone who knows the law.
Can You Sue for a Wrongful Arrest in South Carolina?
Yes. South Carolina recognizes a civil claim called false imprisonment, which is the legal name for what most people call a wrongful arrest. You can also have a separate federal claim if a police officer violated your constitutional rights, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The two claims aren’t the same thing, and they run on different clocks, which is why the deadline question below matters so much.
A false imprisonment claim looks at whether you were held against your will without legal authority. A Section 1983 claim looks at whether a government worker violated a specific right the Constitution protects, like your Fourth Amendment right to be free from an unreasonable seizure. Depending on your facts, you may have grounds for one, the other, or both.
Can You Sue the Officer, or Just the Department?
Both are possible, depending on what happened. An officer can be sued personally for a wrongful arrest. In some cases, the department or municipality shares responsibility too, especially if a policy or a pattern of conduct contributed to what happened to you.
If your claim involves a constitutional violation, expect the officer’s lawyers to raise qualified immunity, a defense that shields government workers from personal liability unless they violated a right that was already clearly established. It doesn’t mean you can’t win. It means the case benefits from a lawyer who’s handled this kind of claim before and knows how South Carolina and federal courts have applied that defense.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?
This is where the two claims split apart, and it’s worth understanding before you decide to wait. A false imprisonment claim in South Carolina has to be filed within two years, under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-550(1) (South Carolina Legislature). A related federal civil rights claim generally follows South Carolina’s three-year personal injury period, under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5), though certain facts can shorten or extend what applies to your case.
Don’t do this math yourself and assume you’re safe. Two years sounds like plenty of time right after an arrest, and then it isn’t. Talk to a lawyer immediately about the actual dates in your situation instead of guessing.
What Can You Recover?
A successful claim can cover your medical bills, lost income, and the toll the arrest took on you. If the officer’s conduct was especially reckless, a court can also award damages meant to punish that conduct, separate from what compensates you for your losses.
We won’t put a number on what any case might be worth. Nobody honest can, this early and without knowing your facts. What matters right now is that South Carolina law gives you a real path to hold someone accountable, not just an apology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sue for a wrongful arrest in South Carolina?
Yes. South Carolina recognizes a civil claim for false imprisonment, and you may also have a separate federal civil rights claim if the arrest violated a constitutional right.
What is wrongful arrest, exactly?
It’s being taken into custody without probable cause, meaning the officer had no reasonable, objective basis to believe you’d committed a crime at the moment they arrested you.
Can you sue the police for wrongful arrest, or only the individual officer?
Both are possible. The officer can be sued personally, and depending on the facts, the department or municipality can share responsibility too.
How long do I have to file a wrongful arrest claim in South Carolina?
Two years for a false imprisonment claim under state law. A related federal civil rights claim generally follows South Carolina’s three-year personal injury period, but talk to a lawyer about your specific dates.
Do I need a lawyer right after a wrongful arrest?
You don’t need one to protect your basic rights in the moment, but talk to one before you give a full statement, sign anything from the department, or let a filing deadline get close. Waiting rarely helps and can cost you the claim.
Talk to a South Carolina Wrongful Arrest Attorney
James Christopher Wilson and Lauren B. Dangerfield have represented people across South Carolina in police misconduct and civil rights cases out of Wilson Law Group, LLC’s Bamberg and Orangeburg offices for more than three decades combined. We’ve also written about what counts as excessive force during an arrest, which often goes hand in hand with a wrongful arrest. If you were wrongfully arrested in South Carolina, call 803-245-7799 for a free consultation. There’s no obligation, and no fee unless we recover for you.
This article is general information about South Carolina and federal law, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. Talk to a lawyer about the specific facts of your case.
