Pickens County moves to end county marshal's office, approves broad ordinance changes

The Pickens County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal the ordinance establishing the county marshal's office and approved a package of code amendments that remove references to the marshal across dozens of provisions, transferring law-enforcement functions to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office and retaining civilian code-enforcement duties within a county office.

Chair Thor Hodge opened the consolidated public hearings and asked Director Bill Wood to present staff's recommendation. Wood said the marshal's office was established in January 2003 and that the county amended its ordinance in 2022. He told the board staff recommends repealing Article 5 of Chapter 2 and removing or amending references to the marshal in chapters that cover general provisions, administration and enforcement, advertising and signs, aviation, building regulations, business licensing, fire prevention, land-development standards, roads and bridges, solid waste, and land-use regulations. "We chose to handle this from a standpoint of inside this organization that reports directly to you to focusing on the civilian piece and not the law enforcement piece and how the sheriff's office assists," Wood said.

After the presentation, the board voted to approve repeal of Article 5 of Chapter 2 by motion and voice vote; the motion carried with all members voting in favor, and no opposition was recorded. The board voted to table repeal of Chapter 42 so staff can review that chapter more closely before returning it to the board. The board also approved grouping items C through L (amendments to chapters 1, 4, 13, 16, 18, 21, 38, 54, 58 and 67) into a single motion; that grouped motion carried.

Board members said the changes remove duplicative or inconsistent references to the marshal and add cross-references that will authorize the sheriff's office to provide assistance for law-enforcement matters while directing day-to-day civilian code enforcement to the county's civilian enforcement office. No members of the public spoke in opposition during the consolidated hearing.

Chair Hodge also moved the board into executive session to discuss property, personnel and potential litigation; the board adjourned the executive session at 5:30 p.m. with no action taken.

The ordinance amendments will be processed for signatures as required by county procedure. Staff said the amendments are intended to make the county code consistent with the operational change of discontinuing the marshal's office and to strengthen enforcement provisions under the civilian enforcement structure.

Next steps: the board directed staff to prepare the finalized ordinance language and signatures; the board tabled Chapter 42 for additional review before any final vote on that chapter.