Beaufort County committee forwards hate-intimidation ordinance and urges statewide action

The Beaufort County Community Service & Public Safety Committee on March 16 moved a draft ordinance to add a hate-intimidation offense in the county code and unanimously approved a resolution urging the South Carolina General Assembly to adopt a statewide hate-crime statute.

The draft ordinance, presented by county staff attorney Monica Maine, was modeled on ordinances in Orangeburg and Richland counties but uses discretionary language — replacing "shall" with "may" — to preserve prosecutorial and law-enforcement discretion. "It is modeled primarily after the Orangeburg and the Richland ordinances," Maine said during the committee meeting, adding that staff had included the attorney general opinion in the meeting packet.

Why it matters: supporters said the county measure would fill gaps left by the absence of a statewide statute and provide legal recourse in unincorporated areas where municipal ordinances do not apply. Risa Prince, speaking during public comment for the Lowcountry Coalition, told the committee, "We are currently living in a state of legal abandonment," and urged members to "Please vote yes on this ordinance."

Committee members pressed staff on the ordinance's structure and potential constitutional implications, asking whether the local provision is a standalone offense or functions as an enhancement to an underlying crime. The county attorney explained that the draft allows the hate-intimidation provision to operate as a separate charge in magistrate court but typically attaches to an underlying state or local offense as an enhancement when the facts support it.

Several members voiced concern for First Amendment protections and asked how the "may" language would change prosecution; staff and counsel said the discretion was intended to avoid duplicative or counterproductive prosecutions and to give prosecutors choices depending on facts and available state charges.

The committee approved, by roll call, moving the ordinance forward. The panel also voted unanimously to forward a resolution encouraging the state legislature to enact a comprehensive hate-crimes law; staff said the resolution will be sent to the county's legislative delegation and the General Assembly.

What happens next: both the ordinance and the resolution will be forwarded to full county council for first reading and additional consideration. The resolution will be transmitted to the county's legislative delegation and the General Assembly to press for a statewide statute.