You may qualify for the Homestead Exemption if you:

Click on this link to provide some details about what GIS is.

 What is GIS?

Yes,

See the ordinance here

Appeal Procedures

All appeals must be in writing directly to the Assessor’s Office at Kershaw County Assessor’s Office, Room 100, 515 Walnut Street, Camden, S.C. 29020. Appeals may be mailed in or hand delivered to our Office. Appeals will be given to a County Appraiser who will respond to each appeal after giving it careful consideration. When considering appeals, the Assessor’s Office can only consider three things: Property Value (Actual fair market value), Property Classification (Legal Residence, Agricultural Use Value, Regular, etc.), and Inequitability (Not assessed constant with similar properties in accordance to the Law). The Assessor’s Office cannot address issues dealing with the dollar amount of your taxes. Failure to appeal within the allotted time constitutes a waver in your right to appeal for the year.

Appeal Form

Appeal Deadline in a year of a Reassessment:

In years when there’s an implementation of a reassessment program all property owners of record will be mailed an assessment notice. Each property owner has the right to appeal up to 90 days after the date of the notice. Failure to respond within 90 days will forfeit your right to appeal for the year of implementation.


Appeal Deadline in a Non-Reassessment year when No Notice of Assessment has been mailed:

In a non-reassessment year when no notice of assessment has been mailed each property owner has the right to appeal any time during the year up until the first penalty date for the tax year for which the appeal is being claimed; however, for administrative purposes the earlier in the year the appeal is filed the better, preferably before March 1st.

Please see the link below for all Kershaw County Online Services that are provided:

http://www.kershaw.sc.gov/Index.aspx?page=336

Follow the link below to view locations of parks and facilities.

Kershaw County Parks and Facilties

The Kershaw County Aquatic Center is located at:

196 Battleship Road
Camden, SC 29020

Phone: 803-425-7188 (Aquatic Center) - SEASONAL NUMBER
Phone: 803-425-6009 (Recreation Department Office)

View a Google Map of the location.

See the document below that lists all elected officials in Kershaw County along with their contact information and their term expiration date. 

Brochure of Kershaw County Elected Officials

Court Indexes: http://publicindex.sccourts.org/kershaw/publicindex/

Court Rosters: http://publicindex.sccourts.org/kershaw/courtrosters/

The following items are illegal to burn per South Carolina DHEC Laws and Regulations:

• Garbage
• Paint
• Cardboard
• Tires
• Household Chemicals
• Construction Debris
• Dead Animals
• Demolition Debris
• Petroleum Products
• Paper
• Treated Wood
• Metal
• Plastic
• Asphalt and Asphaltic Materials

Visit SC DHEC Air Quality Division for more info

County Council Minutes archived from 1967 to 2007 are online at the MCCi website located here:
http://www.mccinnovations.com/weblink/login.aspx
Choose South Carolina and Kershaw County, then hit Log in.

Complete an application, attach a resume, and mail to:

Kershaw County
ATTN: Human Resources
515 Walnut Street
Camden, SC 29020

PLEASE NOTE: Applications are only accepted for current vacancies listed on this website.  See our job vacancies page. 

Kershaw County also accepts applications at the South Carolina Employment Security Commission office at 205 E. Dekalb Street in Camden.

Kershaw County is a drug free workplace.

You must appear in person at the office to obtain answers to child support questions or call our automated number and input you case number when prompted. Answers to child support questions will not be answered over the phone due to security reasons.

(803) 272-0037

All corrections must be submitted in writing, as your signature is required. You may use the online registration or download an application from from HERE
to make the necessary changes to your address.  The printed application must be mailed to 609 Lafayette Ave, Camden, SC 29020 or You may fax (803-424-4012) or email (voterregistration@kershaw.sc.gov) the signed application.

If you have moved outside of Kershaw County, you must submit a voter registration application to your new county of residence.

According to South Carolina Law, each voter must present  one of the following current, unexpired documents:

• Voter Registration Card with Photo
• South Carolina Driver’s License
• South Carolina Identification Card issued by the DMV
• Passport
• Military ID

Additional identification may be required if proof of residence was not provided at time of registration. Voters who register by mail, without providing proof of residence, are given instructions to bring proof of residence on Election Day, such as a current & valid photo ID, current utility bill, current bank statement, current government check, or other current government document (other than your registration card.)

Other forms of identification are NOT accepted on Election Day including police id, birth certificates, or Social Security cards.

You, or an immediate family member, may request an application for absentee
voting. You may submit this request by calling the Board of Elections and
Voter Registration Office at 424-4016. The application will be mailed to you
upon request. You must specify the elections in which you want to vote
absentee. Or you can click on the Online Absentee Request below, fill-in the

requested information, sign the application, and mail to the address on the form

Online Absentee Request:
https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=AbsenteeRequest

To verify that you are registered: https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=VoterInfo

To Check Your Absentee Ballot Status:
https://info.scvotes.sc.gov/eng/voterinquiry/VoterInformationRequest.aspx?PageMode=AbsenteeInfo

NEW FOR 2012 - REGISTER ONLINE TO VOTE

You may register in person at Kershaw County Voter Registration Office, 609 Lafayette Ave Camden, SC 29020.  You may also register or change your address online or download the application from HERE. The printed application must be signed and mailed to the Kershaw County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office at 609 Lafayette Ave, Camden, SC 29020 along with a copy of your id. Faxed (803-424-4012) or emailed (voterregistration@kershaw.sc.gov) signed applications are also accepted.

Poll Watchers

Primary Elections:

•  1 per candidate at each precinct

General Election:

• 2 per political party per 1000 registered voters for that precinct

Non-Partisan Candidate:

• 1 per candidate at each precinct

Must:

• Be a registered voter in Kershaw County
• Present certification signed by the candidate or appropriate party official to the managers of the polling place where they are assigned to watch
• Wear visible I.D. stating s/he is a poll watcher
• Name of the candidate or political party they represent
• No larger than 4 ¼ X 4 ¼”
• May not be a color that has a fluorescent quality
• Be allowed to observe the entire voting process
• Not talk with voters or interfere with orderly conduct of the election
• Direct all questions through a poll manager
• Issue all challenges through a poll manager

You may go to SLED or visit their website at http://www.sled.sc.gov/cwp.aspx?MenuID=CWP

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED)
4400 Broad River Road
Columbia, SC 29210

YES.  Our Land & Plat Indexes begin in December 1990.  Our images for Land Records begin in January 1996.  Our images for Plats begin October 30, 2007 or Plat Book C27 Page 1.  Our Tax Lien Indexes begin July 1994 and Tax Lien Images January 2003.

Visit http://www.sclandrecords.com

  We advise you to contact an attorney of your choice to have a deed prepared.   You can visit our website http://www.kershaw.sc.gov/ go under Register of Deeds for forms available online.
To add a name to your property you must sign a new deed conveying  interest to an individual.  To take someone's name off property they must sign a new deed conveying their interest to someone else.   We DO NOT PREPARE documents  in the Register of Deeds Office.   We only RECORD documents.

FEES (each room requires a $75 refundable deposit): 

Small Room - seats 75 people and includes a warming area and refrigerator                                 Not-for-Profit (no admission fee charged):
$100/4 hours; $10 each additional hour
For Profit (admission fee charged):
$200/4 hours; $20 each additional hour

Big Room - seats 250 people
Not-for-Profit (no admission fee charged):
$150/4 hours; $15 each additional hour
For Profit (admission fee charged):
$300/4 hours; $30 each additional hour

Both Rooms
Not-for-Profit (no admission fee charged):
$200/4 hours; $25 each additional hour
For Profit (admission fee charged):
$400/4 hours; $50 each additional hour

**Room rentals include use of table and chairs.  Rental fee is on a per day basis with half of the rental fee plus deposit ($75) due when reserving a date.  Balance must be paid the Wednesday prior to the reserved date.  

Picnic shelters:
Anderson, Knights Hill, Scott, KC West, Woodward, and Larry Doby: $30 for 4 hours

Yes. We have a number of layers available for purchase. You can download the license agreement from the link below and send it to todd.shafer@kershaw.sc.gov or cathy.norris@kershaw.sc.gov.  Upon approval you will be contacted about delivery and payment. The most common layers are Addresses, Parcels, road center lines, Flood Zone, Zoning, Subdivision, Aerial Photography. We have other layers that are available as well. 

A KC Data Sharing Agreement document and payment needs to be submitted and approved prior to any data being sent.

Listed below is a link to available products and the pricing list and the data sharing agreement.

KC_GIS_License Agreement

GIS and Mapping Cost Sheet

If you own multiple tracts of land, and would like to combine them into one parcel to receive one bill, we can combine them if the following requirements are met.

• Submit a completed combination form.
• The name has to be identical on all tracts.
• The property has to be contiguous.
• No mortgage on any of the tracts.

Download Property Combination Form

Property is normally subdivided when a deed is recorded and an approved subdivision plat is recorded. We normally do not divide property up when an Estate plat or individual plat is recorded. The reason we do not subdivide every time a plat is recorded is because it could be for mortgage purposes or preparing for disbursement of property when someone dies. However, we will subdivide the property if the owner of recorded plat comes to the GIS/Addressing Office and fills out a split form and
provides a copy of an recorded plat. All plats have to be approved by the Planning and Zoning Department.

Download Property Split Form

Personal check payments are not accepted. Acceptable forms of payment include cash, credit cards, cashiers check or money order. You may mail your child support to Family Court, P.O. Box 1557, Camden, SC 29021. You must indicate your case number on your payment.

https://www.govpaynow.com/gps/user/plc/4949

The holiday schedule is as follows for County Offices:

• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day and the Day After
• Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Day After
• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King’s Birthday
• President's Day 
• Good Friday
• Memorial Day

The holiday schedule for the Solid Waste Department:

• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veteran's Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Eve (Closing at Noon)
• Christmas Day
• New Year's Day
• President's Day

Council may authorize an additional day at Christmas depending on the calendar.

In the event a holiday occurs on Saturday, the preceding Friday will be taken. If the holiday occurs on a Sunday, then the following Monday will be taken.

The Kershaw County Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm. The meetings are held in Council Chambers at the Kershaw County Government Center at 515 Walnut Street, Camden, SC. The public is invited to attend.

Any changes to this schedule will be posted on the calendar component of this website.

Individuals who need auxiliary aids for effective communications concerning the above meetings should contact ADA Compliance Coordinator, 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting at (803) 425-1500.

Agricultural real property which is actually used for such purposes and meets certain size or income restrictions, not including, however, a corporation which is the owner or lessee except for certain corporations which do not:

1. Have more than 10 shareholders
2. Have as a shareholder a person (other than an estate) who is not an individual
3. Have a nonresident alien as a shareholder; and
4. Have more than one class of stock

Timberland tracts must be five acres or more. Tract of timberland must be devoted to growing trees for commercial use. Tracts of timberland less than five acres qualify if any of the following conditions are met:

1. Contiguous to a qualifying tract
2. Under same management system as a qualifying tract
3. Owned in combination with non-timberland tracts that qualify as agricultural real property.

Non-timberland (cropland) tracts must be ten acres are more. Tracts of non-timberland less than ten acres qualify if any of the following are met:

1. If contiguous tracts with identical ownership meet the minimum acreage requirement when added together.
2. If a person making application earned at least $1,000 gross farm income in at least three of the past five years or at least three of the first five years if this is initial application.
   If the property has been owned by current owner or an immediate family member of the current owner for at least ten years ending January 1, 1994 and the property was classified as agricultural real property for tax year 1994.

Agricultural Use Value Discount
Agricultural Use Value refers to the special discounted appraised value assigned to those acreage tracts of land that qualified based on bona fide agricultural use of the property.

By law property owners may file for Agricultural Use Value up until the first penalty date within the tax year for which the request for special assessment is claimed; however, administratively it is beneficial if the application is made as early in the year as possible. Applications may be filed in person at our office or sent by mail. Listed below is a printable application for Agricultural Use Value. Please be sure it is filled out completely.
Agricultural Use Value Application.pdf

Multiple Lot Discount
Multiple Lot Discount is a special discount in the appraised value on unsold lots for developers.

If a property owner owned undeveloped acreage that was subdivided into ten or more unsold lots within a homogenous area they may qualify for a discount in appraised value on those lots. The plat would need to have been recorded with the appropriate county officials and approved by the Planning and Zoning Department on or before December 31st, for consideration in the following tax year. Lots must be wholly owned, unimproved, and not under any type of contract for sale agreement.

State statutory mandate requires that reassessments occur every five years. It also requires that property be assessed fairly and equitably. Contrary to what many people think, the purpose of reassessment is not to raise more money for local governments. In fact reassessment programs do not and can not create additional revenue according to SC code of laws 12-37-251(e) accept for, new revenues from “assessments added for property or improvements not previously taxed, for new construction, and for renovation of existing structures”. Act 208, as passed by the General Assembly in 1975, provides that all real property will be valued at its current fair market value (the price your property would sell for on today's real estate market). Act 208 also provides for the classification of all real property for assessment purposes and provides that all real property be assessed at one time. In 1999 the legislature passed Code of Laws of South Carolina 12-43-217(a), “Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, once every fifth year each county of the State shall appraise and equalize those properties under its jurisdiction. Property valuation must be complete at the end of December of the fourth year and the county or State shall notify taxpayers of any change in the value or classification if the change is $1000 or more.

Reassessment Program

Our most recent reassessment program was implemented in 2006. Due to the magnitude of a reassessment program we must begin work three to four years prior to implementation. Actual market sales data is used, and then formulas & cost of construction tables are established to match up with the sales data. We strive for values that are a mathematical expression of how supply and demand factors interact in a market, and that when applied to the total number of properties, are both fair and equitable to the majority. The property value adjustments made during this reassessment for the county as a whole, were made based on sales information collected from 2001 thru December 31st of 2005.

Our reassessment program must have approval by the South Carolina Department of Revenue prior to implementation. The quality or success of a reassessment program is measured by its sales ratio study. We submitted our program in February 2006 and DOR approved our program in March. Approval is based on a sales ratio between the market values we assign and actual sales values. DOR sets the guidelines and standards for approval. In order for DOR to give approval of our program we must overall have set or assigned our property values within 80% to 105% of the actual sales data. According to our ratio study we averaged around 93%, which is within the standard or a normal percentage for most programs.

Reappraisal notices were mailed out August 18th, 2006. As a whole real property values tend to appreciate. At the actual time of implementation there is often new sales data that indicates the values established during reassessment are already out dated and are some times now lower than the actual fair market value to date. The further away you get from the time of implementation the more often the values assigned will become inaccurate depending on the market.

Located in the Assessor’s Office there are two public computer terminals from which all property assessment data can be viewed. On these terminals property records can be searched by tax map number, ownership, or property location. In addition there are property record cards for every parcel that can be located by tax map number.

Also, this information is online at our website: http://kershaw.sc.wthgis.com

We maintain records with information such as current owners name and address, value, size, make, model, year, and the last four digits of the serial number. That information is entered into our computer system and a value is arrived from cost tables that where established using data from Marshall and Swift Valuation Service and NADA. Any adjustments are then made based on inspections of the Manufactured Home.

Manufactured Homes

The Kershaw County Assessor’s Office is responsible for establishing mass property values, utilizing standard mass appraisal practices, for all the Manufactured Homes in the County. For tax purposes Manufactured Homes are considered and taxed as real property. A Manufactured Home is considered a separate piece of property unless it has completed the de-titling process, then it will be considered as a permanent structure for the following tax year.

As a separate piece of property, the mobile home will receive its own separate tax bill, but will be associated with the property on which it sits by sharing a Tax Map number with that property. As a permanent structure it will be taxed along with the property in one bill.

Road names can be assigned by property owners, surveyors, sub-division designers, etal.; however, all road names must be submitted for approval to the E-911 Addressing Office or Planning and Zoning Office. To name a road it must access two or more houses. According to the South Carolina Statute S 23-47-60 the criterion for the naming of a new street is that the name assigned must not duplicate or be similar to an existing street name within the local government’s geographical area. Names of family, nicknames and pet names are not acceptable.

An approval form will need to be completed between the owner and the County. A list of desired road names will need to be submitted for approval. Upon acceptance of the new road name, the Addressing Office will work with the property owners to create and assign the new road name. If any addresses need to be modified during this process, the Addressing Office will make the change and send new letters out to the property owners.

Below is a list of road names already being used in the county.  This may help you determine what can or can't be used.

 Kershaw County Existing Road Names

• A petition must be signed by each and every property owner (not tenants) and submitted to the E-911 Addressing Office.
• Visit the E-911 Addressing Office for this document. Once filled out return with all the signatures.
• The new name will have to be approved by the E-911 Addressing Office. 
• In most instances the County Council will need to approve of the road name change. They have the ability to approve or disprove of the change.
• A fee of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) is requited so that new readdress and letters can be sent to the residents.
• All the addresses that along this road will need to have a new address. The County will send out letters with the old and new address to each property owner.