Alan Wilson: Fighting Government Corruption From the Front Lines

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by ALAN WILSON

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As your Attorney General, I’ve seen public service at its very best, from hardworking teachers working overtime to help students learn, to brave law enforcement officers and first responders saving lives. We have some great government employees who truly care about our communities and work every day to serve South Carolina.

But I’ve also seen the worst of government, including the abuse of public office and the very real harm it causes our families.

Corruption and abuse of office damages more than just public trust. It affects our state’s bottom line, often results in higher taxes, limits opportunities for our children, and raises serious questions about how our hard-earned tax dollars are being spent. That’s why fighting corruption has been at the heart of my work as Attorney General and is one of the main reasons I am running to be your Governor.

Corruption can be found at every level. It can be found in local government, in police departments, in the legislature, and even within state-level cabinet agencies. And I’ve been in the trenches fighting it since day one.

Over the past fifteen years, my office has taken on corruption wherever we’ve found it. We have indicted 13 sheriffs, police chiefs, and senior law enforcement officers, with 11 convictions and 2 cases still pending. We have indicted 30 Department of Corrections officers and 4 staff members, with 9 convictions so far and the rest moving through the system.

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We’ve held your government accountable across the board. That includes indicting 8 school and university officials, 14 county officials including 7 elected leaders, and 5 Department of Transportation employees. We’ve also prosecuted corruption at the highest levels, including securing convictions against a solicitor, a magistrate, and two state legislators.

And corruption doesn’t stop with public officials. We have also indicted lawyers and corporate executives who tried to defraud the system and take advantage of it for personal gain.

This is real accountability. And it’s long overdue.

But despite this record, the truth is our system for fighting corruption is still outdated, reactive, and too often fragmented. More than a decade ago, I called for the creation of a Public Integrity Unit, a proactive approach to detecting and preventing corruption before it spreads. That idea was blocked at the time.

It’s past time to bring it back.

Today, too many agencies operate in silos. They have overlapping responsibilities but rarely share information. Investigations are often reactive, only beginning after damage has already been done. And corrupt officials know how to exploit those gaps.

The Public Integrity Unit would change that.

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This would not be a new layer of government. It would be a coordinated partnership bringing together the Attorney General’s Office, S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Department of Revenue, the Ethics Commission, the State Auditor, and the Inspector General to work side by side.

Instead of reacting to corruption, this team would proactively audit, investigate, and when necessary, prosecute wrongdoing across all levels of government. Cases would be built from the ground up, meaning prosecutors are ready to act the moment criminal conduct is uncovered.

It’s a smarter, faster, and more effective way to protect taxpayers and restore trust.

I will issue an Executive Order within my first month directing all executive agencies to establish the long-overdue Public Integrity Unit to investigate corruption in South Carolina, and I will work with the legislature to ensure a bill reaches my desk to make it permanent.

Corruption and wasteful spending have hurt too many South Carolinians. Our people deserve a government that holds itself accountable.

As Governor, I will take this fight to all entities of South Carolina. We will hold agencies accountable, empower law enforcement, and open the doors of government to the people who fund it.

South Carolina families deserve leadership that puts them first, not special interests. They deserve transparency, accountability, and a government that works for them.

And I’m just getting started.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Alan Wilson is the Attorney General of South Carolina and a 2026 gubernatorial candidate.

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