For more than two decades, James Campbell — “Jamie” as he's locally known — has been the person behind the scenes of Sumter County's courtrooms.

He has maintained court records, collected fines and payments and helped guide day-to-day operations in a local office whose work rarely attracts national attention.

That is about to change.

Campbell is preparing his office for one of the most closely watched criminal cases South Carolina has seen in years: the murder retrial of Alex Murdaugh.

In May, the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously overturned Murdaugh's 2023 murder convictions in the killings of his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22, after the court found that Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced the jury, undermining Murdaugh's right to a fair trial.

Hill, who served as clerk for about three years, resigned in 2024 and pleaded guilty last year to showing a reporter sealed court exhibits in the Murdaugh killings and then lying about it. She was sentenced to probation.

Murdaugh's attorneys asked 14th Judicial Circuit Judge Debra McCaslin to move the trial outside the 14th Judicial Circuit, arguing that Murdaugh wouldn't be able to get a fair and impartial trial after intense media coverage about him, his family and their role as local personal injury attorneys. The defense previously requested Charleston and Richland counties as potential venues for the retrial.

The decision was left up to McCaslin, who selected Sumter, stating in her order that the county is "best suited" for its courtroom facilities, security and technological capabilities.

The assignment is both historic and, in some respects, an extension of what his office does every day.

Campbell was recruited to run for the clerk of court position by then-Solicitor Cecil Jackson. At the time, Campbell said he knew little of what the clerk of court's job entailed. He did his research, toured other counties and learned about the position through other clerks in office, leading him to eventually place his name on the ballot in 2004.

A clerk of court is elected every four years. Campbell has spent 22 years at the office's helm.

He has achieved many notable accomplishments in his tenure, including serving as vice president and president of the South Carolina Clerks of Courts and Register of Deeds Association. He was also voted Clerk of the Year in 2022.

He described himself as a "pretty laid-back guy," a quality he thinks helped him navigate the sometimes unpredictable demands of the job. It also helps to have a dedicated and loyal staff — many employees have worked with him throughout his tenure.

That veteran knowledge is one of the reasons Campbell thinks Sumter was able to take on a case of this magnitude.

According to Campbell, the last time a Sumter County courthouse was the backdrop for a case that garnered national attention was the 1944 trial of George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old boy who was wrongfully executed after being convicted, during an unfair trial, for the murders of two white girls — 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 8-year-old Mary Emma Thames — in Alcolu.

Campbell thinks the experience of his staff and the Sumter County Judicial Center on Harvin Street are two primary factors behind the selection. The courthouse is about 13 years old and has been well-maintained, he said.

Since its opening, Campbell's office has overseen one major upgrade to courthouse technology. The technology will be particularly important during the retrial when media organizations from across the country are expected to seek access to the courtroom. Campbell said the system is straightforward enough that, in his words, "if you can read, you can play this game."

He said all media access will be handled through South Carolina Press Association attorney Jay Bender.

Campbell said the courtroom could accommodate about 100 people but speculated a good portion of seats will be reserved for media organizations, leaving a limited number of seats for the public. The seating process hasn’t been finalized.

A third factor lies beyond the courtroom, just past the large courthouse windows: the community.

"When you look downtown, we're pretty vibrant," Campbell said. "We got some amenities that other counties or cities might not have, so we're very blessed."

For a trial expected to draw journalists, attorneys, court personnel and spectators from across the country, those amenities could matter.

The timing also places the retrial alongside some of Sumter's most visible community events, as festivals and community gatherings are plentiful during the springtime.

Though the proceedings are scheduled for next year, preparation is already underway.

One of Campbell’s first calls after learning the retrial would come to Sumter was to Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis. He now communicates with the sheriff daily and works with other county employees to iron out security, technology issues and other details that can easily be invisible until they become a problem.

That cooperation is likely to become increasingly important as the trial approaches and the courthouse has to accommodate the attorneys, jurors, witnesses, law enforcement officers, courthouse employees, media representatives and members of the public, all while maintaining the ordinary functions of the judicial system.

Many residents have raised questions about jury selection.

By now, Campbell said, it would be difficult to find anyone who has not encountered some part of the story, given the multiple documentaries, television programs, podcasts, news stories and social media discussions surrounding the case. But Campbell said familiarity with the case does not automatically prevent someone from serving.

"The thing is not whether you know something about the case," he said. "It's whether you can be fair and impartial."

If prospective jurors can honestly say they can set aside what they have previously seen or heard and decide the case based on evidence presented in court, Campbell said, the court can work toward seating a fair and impartial jury.

For an office accustomed to serving a largely local audience, the Murdaugh retrial will be something different. But Campbell is not interested in turning the courthouse into a spectacle.

His job, as he sees it, remains the same. To keep the records, uphold the integrity of the court and keep the process moving.

"We take pride in (our work) here," Campbell said. "We're just (about) great customer service. We try to do everything we can to satisfy everybody."