Dorchester County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

[2] The county was created on February 25, 1897 by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly.

[3] Dorchester County is included in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Dorchester County is named for its first settlement area, which was established by Congregationalists in 1696.

However, when it was separately established, it came from parts of the neighboring Colleton and Berkeley counties.

Upon commencement, the body was re-titled as the “Dorchester County Council” and its meeting dates were determined by state law to be held the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month.

The seven-member County Council is elected by single-member districts.

He is aided by a Deputy County Administrator and Chief Financial Officer (Daniel T. Prentice), Deputy County Administrator for Public Safety (Mario Formisano), and Assistant County Administrator for Communuity Services (Bryan Havir).

This management team oversees multiple departments within their respective directorate.

In addition to senior management reporting to County Council through the County Administrator, seven Countywide elected officials serve four year terms and oversee the following functions: The South Carolina Department of Corrections operates the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville in Dorchester County.

Knight Dorchester County Detention Center which opened in 2016.

[24] As of April 2024[update], some of the largest employers in the county include Bosch, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, KION Group, Publix, the town of Summerville, and Walmart.