Orangeburg County will soon be closing several magistrates' offices in an effort to streamline the county's court system.

County officials say the change will save money and make it more convenient for people who have to use the courts, as the remaining offices will now be open throughout the week.

"I think it will bring great savings to the county of Orangeburg and give greater service to the people in the county," said Orangeburg County Chief Magistrate Sam Daily.

"What we had in the past was a few offices open a couple of hours a day," he said. Once the change is made, the offices will be open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The change is part of a two-pronged conversion of the court system that should put South Carolina on a faster track to efficiency, officials say. In addition to the consolidation of magistrates' offices, the county's court documents are being placed online.

Orangeburg County currently has 11 magistrates' offices handling civil disputes of $7,500 and less, as well as criminal cases that carry penalties of up to $500 or 30 days in jail. They will be consolidated into three regional offices in Holly Hill, Neeses and Orangeburg.

County officials hope to begin making the move by April 1.

The magistrates from Bolentown, Springfield, Norway and North will all operate out of a new office in the Neeses Town Hall, once work is complete. Neeses does not currently have a magistrate's office.

In addition, the Bowman and Branchville magistrates will operate out of the Orangeburg office once their offices close. The two Orangeburg offices will be consolidated into one.

The Elloree, Eutawville and Holly Hill offices will eventually be consolidated into the old Holly Hill Middle School, possibly by the summer of 2009.

Until then, the Eutawville office will be consolidated into the Holly Hill office, which will be open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Elloree office will be open Wednesdays and Fridays.

The county has three full-time magistrates and eight part-time magistrates. They will all continue to serve.

The magistrates who serve in the soon-to-be-defunct courtrooms will rotate in shifts between the satellite offices and Orangeburg's courtroom.

"What happened in the past, everything was brought to Orangeburg," Daily said.

Court officials are also hoping for a big boost from the state's new case management system. In 2005, South Carolina received a $25.7 million grant that should allow court information from all 46 of the state's counties to be posted on the Internet.

Currently, 15 counties have deployed the case management system, said Cherie May, information technology training coordinator for the state Judicial Department. The entire state is expected to be online by 2010.

The system connects court records with the State Law Enforcement Division and prisons. With that information, law enforcement can quickly find out if a suspect has charges or convictions in another county.

The system also will let the public check civil and criminal court records without having to go to the courthouse.

But the changes for the county and the state won't come overnight.

"I've heard great things from other counties that implemented it," County Clerk of Court Lisa Mizell said. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Mizell said certain paperwork was manually typed for each department that required the piece. Soon the documents will be typed once, then transmitted electronically to wherever it's needed, Mizell said.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516. T&D City Editor Gene Crider and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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