By Mike McCombs
The Island News
The complaint against Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway for misconduct in office will be investigated by the Public Integrity Unit, a team of prosecutors and investigators from the 1st and 14th Circuit solicitors’ offices.
As The Island News reported Tuesday morning, July 4, the criminal complaint against Greenway was filed May 11, 2023 with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Stone emailed a statement to The Island News via 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office spokesperson Jeff Kidd:
“Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner and I discussed the complaint and agreed that this matter requires an independent review. So it has been forwarded to the Public Integrity Unit. …
“The PIU is a collaborative team formed of senior prosecutors and investigators from the office of First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe and my office. The First and 14th Circuit offices have a history of collaboration that predates this team. For instance, I assisted Solicitor Pascoe with a Statehouse corruption probe arising from a 2014 State Law Enforcement Division investigative report.
Recognizing the need for additional scrutiny, objectivity and transparency in cases involving public officials, we formed the PIU in 2020. It examines cases from either circuit that entail allegations of public corruption, officer-involved use of force and other matters involving public officials. This arrangement gives our offices additional resources and legal expertise for cases that can be quite complex. An example would be misconduct cases, which could be covered by both statutory and common law.
“In instances in which charges are deemed appropriate, the case can be prosecuted by attorneys from either Solicitor’s Office. A recent example of the PIU’s work would include this past February’s conviction of Wade Franklin Rollins. The town of Summerville police officer was sent to prison for stealing guns and money from the agency’s evidence room. He was prosecuted by 14th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Sean Thornton after review by the PIU.”
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.
When contacted by phone Monday afternoon, Greenway said he had just been made aware of the complaint Monday morning and had no comment.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
