Electronic Courtrooms

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina offers electronic courtroom capability in most courtrooms statewide. Attorneys interested in using electronic equipment should contact the appropriate judge's courtroom deputy to test the equipment and the evidence in the courtroom at least two days before the hearing or trial.
Please see the District Judges page or the Magistrate Judges page for courtroom deputy contact information.

Attorneys are responsible for obtaining training and for providing adapters to connect any device that does not have an HDMI or VGA output. 

Microphone Counsel tables, bench areas, witness stands, and lecterns have cabled desk microphones. Witness stands also have wired lapel microphones available for use. Wireless handheld and lapel microphones are available by attorney request or at the direction of the judge.

Assisted Listening Wireless infrared assisted listening receivers are available for the hearing impaired. Each unit features multiple headphones, earphone, and t-coil, or telecoil, hearing aid options with individual volume settings.

Evidence Audio Evidence audio may be played from a laptop computer or other connected device using HDMI audio or 3.5 mm (1/8”) audio plug.

Audio Conferencing All courtrooms are equipped with audio conference phone lines. This allows remote participants to hear the courtroom microphones and evidence audio and be heard in the courtroom over the loudspeakers. Multiple callers may participate simultaneously using multiple phone lines or by using an AT&T audio conference line provided by the court.

Bench Conference Sound Masking Every courtroom has available sound masking for bench conferences. For short sidebar conversations, jurors may remain in the courtroom while room microphones are muted and white noise plays in the speakers near the jury box.

Foreign Language Interpretation When foreign language interpretation is required, live interpretation in the courtroom is the norm. Parties and observers can hear the English translation over the speakers. On occasion, the use of remote telephone interpretation is needed. Using telephone interpretation, the parties and observers in the courtroom hear the English translation via an audio conference line.

Private Attorney-Client Communication Wireless transceivers are available on request to provide safe and confidential attorney – client communication while physical distancing.

Evidence presentation Electronic evidence presentation is now commonplace in today courtrooms, with surveillance video, audio recordings, and electronic presentations common in trials. The District of South Carolina offers comprehensive video evidence capabilities in all its district judge courtrooms. 

Laptop Connectivity Attorneys can connect laptop computers using the HDMI or VGA connection cables found in the cable box in each counsel table. The cable box also provides power outlets, and some include USB charging ports. Attorneys presenting with devices that do not have HDMI or VGA outputs are required to provide their own adapters.

Annotation Evidence display monitors at both the lectern and the witness stand include annotation capability. Annotation allows attorneys and witnesses to draw on the screen using their fingers to bring specific items to the attention of the witness, judge, jury, opposing counsel, and observers in the courtroom.

Document Camera While many documents are displayed using a laptop computer, the courtroom’s evidence presentation cart features a high definition document camera that can display paper documents and objects on the courtroom monitors. The document camera zoom lens can display even the smallest details of any object.

Monitors Each electronic courtroom provides at least one monitor for each counsel table, monitors for each set of two jurors, at least one monitor for the gallery, annotation capable touch monitors on the lectern and at the witness stand, and display monitors for the judge and courtroom support staff. Using touch controls, the Courtroom Deputy can remove the video feed from the witness, juror, and gallery monitors when required by the court.

Video Conferencing Each courthouse has at least two video conference carts that can be connected to the courtroom audio visual system. Remote participants are displayed on the courtroom display monitors and can see the courtroom parties by use of the onboard camera. All video conferences should be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.