Union County Sheriff David Taylor was charged last week with misconduct in office and disseminating obscene material.

He is the latest SC sheriff indicted including Lexington County Sheriff Jimmy Metts who went to prison for a year.

2 other sheriffs have been convicted of serious crimes in the last 5 months and 2 are under federal and state indictments.

12 sheriffs have been convicted and 1 was exposed as an embezzler after he died. This is a terrible betrayal of our citizens’ trust.

THE EPIDEMIC of sheriffs’ crimes has several major causes we can reform.

1st, sheriffs have access to large amounts of human resources, money from campaign contributions, fees, tax funds and forfeitures and property from criminal seizures which too often are misused.

Sheriffs have embezzled, taken bribes, misused inmate labor, engaged in misconduct with subordinate employees and stolen campaign funds.

2nd, most sheriffs have no supervision. They are elected for 4 years, are not responsible to county councils and are not directed and monitored by the governor, attorney general or SLED. Sheriffs’ employees are atwill, not civil service protected, and can be fired at any time. They fear retaliation for reporting wrong doing. Some sheriffs abuse this freedom and turn to crime.

3rd, there is no inspection and auditing of sheriff’s departments mandated by state law, unlike the military, public schools, government agencies and businesses.

THE GENERAL Assembly should pass legislation to direct the state Inspector General to check all 46 sheriffs’ departments every 4 years to look for wrong-doing, abuses, waste, and ineffective practices.

Inspection teams would report their findings to the governor, attorney general, the 16 circuit solicitors, the General Assembly and county councils with the expectation that they would take needed action.

Legislators should consider other reforms, including new whistle blower protections for sheriffs’ employees to prevent retaliation for reporting wrong doing, new laws regulating use of departmental resources, and a ban on fraternizing with employees.

Other reforms could include laws empowering citizens to petition to recall and replace sheriffs by special elections, term limits and more training in state ethics laws.

Finally, audits and annual reports by departments should be made public.

Mr. Crangle is an attorney and former head of Common Cause in SC.

Good reader reminders

I really enjoyed the July 2 Chronicle. The articles about the left and violence, communist-inspired rioting, Democrat’s shameful response to Sen. Tim Scott’s police reforms the editor’s column on the lessons of history, Mike Aun’s columns and your covid coverage were good reminders for all of us.

Ron Shealy, Lexington County

We welcome your letters

With letters to the editor, please include your name, address, and telephone number for verification. Your telephone number and address will not be published. Our deadline for letters is 2 p.m. Friday. Send them to JerryBellune@yahoo.com