The City Council appoints the Municipal Judge to one year terms beginning in July. Morrison Payne, the current Municipal Judge, presides over both traffic court and jury trials. The Associate Municipal Judge, Deborah Kane administers bond hearings and handles other court responsibilities when Judge Payne is unavailable. The Municipal Court meets on Thursday evening of each week for traffic court and Saturday morning for Jury Trials. All court sessions are open to the public.
The mission of the Judicial Department is to provide a constitutional and statutory medium for the enforcement of traffic offenses, municipal ordinance violations, and State misdemeanors adopted by municipal ordinance as offenses against the City of Walterboro.
In order to accomplish this mission, the Judicial Department operates the Walterboro Municipal Court by:
- Providing both defendants and plaintiffs with knowledgeable and helpful service
- Ensuring that no warrants of arrest are issued before probable cause is established to support the warrant
- Ensuring that no person is deprived of his or her liberty or property without due process of law
- Providing court administration to guarantee that all persons coming before the Court are treated equally and have protected rights afforded them under the United States Constitution, the South Carolina Constitution, and applicable ordinances and statutes
Fines Information
For questions about current fines, call Court Administration at (843) 782-1057.