By Mike McCombs
The Island News
Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway is under investigation for misconduct.
A criminal complaint was filed May 11, 2023 with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the incident report’s investigation narrative, dated June 29, 2023, “On 5-11-23, a complaint was received at [the] Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office regarding activities that may constitute misconduct by Eric Greenway. After reviewing the information received and following a consultation with solicitor Duffie Stone, it was determined that the complaint would be forwarded to an independent agency for investigation.”
The incident report states that the alleged offenses took place between 8 a.m., January 9, 2023 and 4 p.m., June 29, 2023. Aside from that, there is no complainant listed, and there are no details of any alleged crimes.
“At this particular time, that is all that we’re saying,” Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said by phone Monday afternoon.
South Carolina recognizes the common law offense of misconduct in office. It occurs “when duties imposed by law have not been properly and faithfully discharged.” To constitute a crime, such conduct must be willful and dishonest.
Legally, there are three kinds of misconduct – malfeasance, which means acting illegally; misfeasance, which means acting legally but corruptly; and nonfeasance, which means not carrying out a required duty of the office.
“Once the complaint was reviewed, we met with the solicitor, as well, and we agreed, based on the material that we had, that we would refer it to an independent agency,” Tanner said.
The only fact Tanner would confirm was that the independent agency mentioned was not the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
Jeff Kidd, Spokesperson for the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, said when contacted Monday afternoon, he could not immediately answer any questions about the investigation.
When contacted by phone Monday afternoon, Greenway said he had just been made aware of the complaint that morning and had no comment.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
