Could a retired officer qualify to run for South Carolina sheriff, and could a process-serving constable use a blue light?

Plain-English summary

The Sheriffs' Association asked three questions. First, could a clerk-of-court employee who was a state constable use a blue light on a vehicle mainly used for service of process? The AG referred to an enclosed earlier opinion and repeated its conclusion: a blue light required a vehicle used primarily for law enforcement, so the described process-serving vehicle could not carry one.

On sheriff eligibility, the AG said the statutory requirement that a candidate have been issued a law-enforcement certificate did not require current employment or current certification. A retired person could qualify if the person had previously received the certificate and gained the required experience. But certification and experience in another state alone would not satisfy the South Carolina statutory definition, which referred to employment by “the State” or one of its subdivisions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2004. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a retired police officer run for sheriff under the certification requirement discussed?
A: The AG said retirement and lack of current law-enforcement employment did not disqualify someone who had previously been issued the certificate and gained the necessary experience.

Q: Did an officer’s certification from another state qualify for a South Carolina sheriff race?
A: The AG said no. It read “of the State” in the statutory officer definition as South Carolina.

Q: Could a constable’s process-serving vehicle use a blue emergency light?
A: The AG repeated a prior view that the vehicle had to be used primarily for law enforcement. It said the described clerk-of-court employee's vehicle could not be equipped with a blue light.

Background and statutory framework

Section 23-11-110 governed the sheriff candidate's certification and experience qualification, and Section 23-6-400 supplied the law-enforcement-officer definition discussed by the AG. The opinion treated the blue-light question by reference to an enclosed earlier opinion, whose conclusion it summarized, without citing a separate blue-light statute in this letter.

Citations

• Section 23-11-110
• Section 23-6-400

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/january-29-2004-1/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/04jan29moore.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
HENRY McMASTER
ATTORNEY GENERAL

January 29, 2004

Jeffrey B. Moore, Executive Director
South Carolina Sheriffs' Association
P. 0. Box 21428
Columbia, South Carolina 29210

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Dear Jeff:

In a letter to this office you questioned whether a state constable employed by a county clerk of court for the purpose of providing service of process in certain cases can drive a vehicle equipped with a blue light. Enclosed please find a recent opinion of this office dealing with the same issue which is responsive to your question. That opinion stated that in order to use a blue light, the vehicle must be one used primarily for law enforcement purposes. If the vehicle is not so used a majority of the time, a blue light may not be used. The opinion concluded that the vehicle of the referenced individual employed by the clerk of court's office could not be equipped with a blue light.

In your next question you referenced S.C. Code Ann. Section 23-11-1 lO(A)(S) (2003) which

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requires that a candidate for sheriff have a designated number of years of experience as a "certified law enforcement officer" along with a designated number of years of secondary education. That provision states that "(f)or purposes of this section, a 'certified law enforcement officer' is a person who has been issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer pursuant to Section 23-6-400(0)( 1)." You asked whether an individual running for the office of sheriff must possess a current, valid certification as a law ·e nforcement officer and be currently employed as a law enforcement officer or can that individual be retired from and no longer be employed as a law enforcement officer, having at one time been issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer. It is a cardinal rule of statutory construction that the primary purpose in interpreting statutes is to ascertain the intent of the General Assembly. State v. Martin, 293 S.C. 46, 358 S.E.2d 697 (1987). A statute must receive a practical, reasonable and fair interpretation consonant with the purpose, design and policy of the lawmakers. Caughman v. Columbia Y.M.C.A., 2 12 S.C. 337, 47 S.E.2d 788 ( 1948). Words must be given their plain and ordinary meaning without resort to subtle or forced construction to limit or expand the statute's operation. State v. Blackmon, 304 S.C. 270, 403 S.E.2d 660 (I 990). Additionally, a statute will be construed to avoid an absurd result. Any statute must be interpreted with common sense to avoid unreasonable consequences. United States v. Rippetoe, 178 F.2d 735 (4th Cir. 1949). A sensible construction ra.ther than one which leads to irrational results, is always warranted. McLeod v. Montgomery, 244 S.C. 308, 136 S.E.2d 778 (1964) .

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REMs~ C DENNIS BUJlDING • POST OrncE Box 11549 • CowMBIA, S.C. 29211-1549 • TEl.EPHOl'IE: 803-734-3970 • FACSIMILE: 803-253-6283

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Mr. Moore
Page2
January 29, 2004

Consistent with such, it appears that Section 23-11-110 (A)(S) should be read to conclude that an individual running for sheriff must have at one time been issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer and therefore have acquired the necessary years of experience as a certified law enforcement officer. Therefore, an individual may currently be retired and no longer employed as a law enforcement officer and offer for sheriff if that individual otherwise has been issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer and gained the necessary years of experience in the past. To construe such provision otherwise would be to limit candidates for sheriff to only those individuals currently serving as a law enforcement officer. Such would arguably be an absurd result, inconsistent with the intent of the General Assembly in enacting such legislation.

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You next asked whether an individual may be qualify in another State under the provisions of Section 23-11-110 in order to run for sheriff. Again, Section 23-11-l lO(A)(S) requires that a candidate for sheriffhave a designated number ofyears of experience as a "certified law enforcement officer" along with a designated number of years of secondary education. That provision states that "(f)or purposes of this section, a 'certified law enforcement officer' is a person who has been issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer pursuant to Section 23-6-400(0)(1 )." Section 23-6400(0)(1) defines "law enforcement officer" as
... an appointed officer or employee hired by and regularly on the payroll of the State or any of its political subdivisions, who is granted statutory authority to enforce all or some of the criminal, traffic, and penal laws of the State and who possesses, with respect to those laws, the power to effect arrests for offenses committed or alleged to have been committed.

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The term "of the State" must be construed as applying only to South Carolina with the result that an individual may not qualify as a law enforcement officer in another State in order to run for sheriff.

If there are any questions, please advise.
Sincerely,

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Enclosure
REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

Robert D. Cook
Assistant Deputy Attorney General