Judge Harriet A. Bonds: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. Harriet A. Bonds is a magistrate for the Colleton County Magistrate Court in South Carolina. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Henry McMaster in 2022.

The magistrate court presides over landlord/tenant hearings, summons and complaint cases (to claim disputed funds), claim and delivery cases (to reclaim property), and public sales of abandoned vehicles. Its magistrates also hear criminal and traffic cases, issue warrants and set bonds, and hold preliminary hearings and transfer cases for the county.

In addition to her judicial service, Bonds has worked as a sole practitioner in her own private practice, a law firm she opened in 2015. She supplemented her practice with service as a guardian ad litem with the Colleton County Family Court.

Bonds earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985. She then completed a J.D. at Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, in 1990. She is licensed to practice in South Carolina and North Carolina.

Her memberships have included the Colleton County Bar Association and the South Carolina Bar Association. She has also been involved with Civitans.