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This article is the first in an ongoing series – ‘Rebuilding Hampton’ – which covers the significant challenges facing the residents and leaders of Hampton County, South Carolina. As we have previously reported, Hampton is staring down “allegations of fraud, millions of dollars in missing or misspent funds and a habitual failure to report required financial information to the public” – all of which have eroded public confidence in the integrity of local leaders as massive budget cuts have affected critical county services.
FITSNews recently spent some time in Hampton County speaking to community leaders, elected officials – and most importantly to the citizens who are seeking answers as to how the county ended up in such dire straits.
Our first interview was with newly elected Hampton County sheriff, Anthony ‘Bubba’ Russell. Additional interviews and articles will be released in the coming weeks.
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A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN
Anthony Russell knew he would be facing numerous challenges after he was sworn into his new role as sheriff of Hampton County on January 3, 2024. But he quickly realized just how bad things were when attended his first county council meeting and was told his department would not be able to hire anyone due to budgetary restrictions.
“The county just didn’t have the money,” Russell was told.
Council members then asked Russell if he would be willing to work with them until they “got some money generated in the county.” Russell agreed to the budget restrictions, knowing he would be able to present the financial needs of his department in the spring as the county planned its budget for the upcoming year.
The budget restrictions were so tight, the department couldn’t even order new badges or uniforms for its staff.
“It took me almost six months just to get deputy badges and credentials, you know, just for Hampton County,” Russell said.
For six months, the sheriff limited the department’s spending and stayed within the parameters of the county budget – even though his deputies were driving a fleet of patrol vehicles in “critical condition.” In fact, the sheriff’s own patrol vehicle – which has 371,000 miles on it – is one of multiple sheriff’s office vehicles with more than 300,000 miles on the odometer.
“I can get through that, but the deputies are the ones that’s responding to these calls by the citizens that sleep at night, and the cars are constantly breaking down,” he said.
During his campaign, Russell promised citizens he would be implementing new technology to the department – but upon taking office requests for even the most basic equipment upgrades were denied.
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RELATED | IS MISMANAGEMENT PUTTING HAMPTON’S SAFETY AT RISK?
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On February 16, 2024, one of the vehicles in the aging fleet broke down during a shootout – an incident which endangered a deputy and “compromised our operational effectiveness in a life-threatening situation,” according to Russell.
The sheriff said he remembered getting the call “like it was yesterday.” When he arrived to the scene 20 minutes later, he found the deputy’s car in the middle of the road with no lights. When he asked why the car was there, the deputy told him after he got in his car, he heard a loud noise.
“I believe the engine blew in this car,” Russell said.
Frustrated and deeply concerned for the safety of his staff, Russell approached state representative Bill Hager for help. On March 11, 2024, Hager helped Russell outline and submit a request for $952,000 in funding from the state for fifteen (15) vehicles. When the request was denied, Russell focused his efforts on his budget proposal to the county council for the upcoming fiscal year.
Despite presenting a carefully laid out budget proposal – which included necessary replacements for obsolete body-worn cameras and his failing fleet of vehicles – Russell was stunned when the final budget proposed by the county proposed $850,000 in cuts to the department.
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“I didn’t ask for one dollar over my budget,” Russell continued, “All I asked for them to do was just approve the existing budget that I had when I got here and they started cutting me. I’m talking about almost $700,000 I got really frustrated because I already know the struggles that we’re facing now.”
Struggling to maintain his current fleet became even more difficult after the department’s maintenance budget was cut. Russell said he found out about this latest “restriction” when a purchase order for a set of new tires for one of the department’s vehicles was denied.
Not only was the department saddled with vehicles in constant need of maintenance, they now had no means to fix them when they broke down.
The lack of resources is not only frustrating, it’s costing the county deputies to other departments.
“I don’t want people to sit here… and think that I’m soft because of how I’m feeling right now, but these are the challenges that the sheriff faces every single day, and it is not right, it is not fair,” Russell said. “I’ve lost deputies because I can’t even buy them uniforms, bullet proof vests.”
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Even with the seemingly insurmountable obstacles the department has faced, Russell has been able to make some improvements. The deployment of a new cellphone app for citizens was a resounding success – allowing the department to send out critical alerts and communicate more effectively with citizens. Russell noted when he took office in January, the community was facing an “alarmingly high” rate of drive-by shootings. Using “aggressive enforcement,” his office “started taking the bad guy’s guns off the street, and we were able to bring those numbers down.”
“A citizen came to me and said ‘Sheriff, I’m sleeping on the floor in my house,'” Russell continued. “That is unacceptable.”
When Russell took office, he immediately requested an inventory and audit be completed of the department.
“I just want to do everything by the books,” he said.
The process revealed information compelling the sheriff to call the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to request an investigation very early in his first term.
Asked whether the cuts to his department were made in retaliation for this move, Russell said, “I hope not.”
“As sheriff for the county, you should do what’s right,” he said. “Does not matter whether you have to put your family or your friend in jail at the end of the day, you took an oath.”
Despite all he has faced in his first eight months in office, sheriff Russell remains optimistic and hopes the community will continue to rally behind his department.
“Listen, we got men and women here that work hard day-in, day-out,” he said. “And I just want them to know if we fail, if we lack in response time, by all means don’t hold that against the sheriff. I’m only doing what I can possibly do with what I have.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Jenn Wood is FITSNews’ incomparable research director. She’s also the producer of the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts and leading expert on all things Murdaugh/ South Carolina justice. A former private investigator with a criminal justice degree, evildoers beware, Jenn Wood is far from your average journalist! A deep dive researcher with a passion for truth and a heart for victims, this mom of two is pretty much a superhero in FITSNews country. Did we mention she’s married to a rocket scientist? (Lucky guy!) Got a story idea or a tip for Jenn? Email her at jenn@fitsnews.com.
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1 comment
Am I missing something here? Kind of hard to understand how a Red State crying, “Back the Blue” can tolerate having any county having to deal with this lack of funding. This seems unacceptable to me.