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<p><strong>From staff reports</strong></p>
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<p>Beaufort County Probate Judge Kenneth Fulp has announced that he will retire at the end of his current term of office on Dec. 31.</p>
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<p>"It has been the highest honor of my professional life to have served the citizens of Beaufort County as their Probate Judge and to work with dedicated colleagues both on the bench and in the bar," Fulp said. "I especially want to thank all the dedicated and caring Probate Court staff members with whom it has been my privilege to work over the years. They daily render caring and professional service to scores of people going through some of life's most difficult times, and I will always cherish their commitment to our work."</p>
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<p>Judge Fulp has served as Beaufort County's Probate Judge since 2012, first by gubernatorial appointment and then by election in 2014 and 2018. Prior to becoming Probate Judge, he had served as Associate Probate Judge since January 1999.</p>
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<p>Before his judicial service, he practiced law, first in Virginia and then in South Carolina following his move to Beaufort in 1990. His legal experience includes working in the 1980s as counsel for a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee and as Congressional Relations Counsel for the U.S. Marshals Service in the Department of Justice. In 1988, he was presented The Distinguished Service A ward by the Director of the U.S. Marshals Service.</p>
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<p>Judge Fulp served as President of the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges in 2017-2018. He is a judicial member of the South Carolina Bar and the Virginia State Bar, and is a member of the National College of Probate Judges</p>
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