BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) – A criminal complaint has been filed against Beaufort County administrator Eric Greenway.
The complaint, filed May 11 with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, is for alleged misconduct by Greenway. That misconduct, according to the preliminary report obtained by News 3, happened between January and May of this year.
Beaufort County Sheriff PJ Tanner would not elaborate on the circumstances behind the complaint or who filed it. He did say the case needed to be investigated, and both he and 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone said it needed to be looked at by an independent party.
The case has now been sent to 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pasco; his office has a public integrity unit attached to it.
This is the statement on the unit and complaint from 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone:
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner and I discussed the complaint and agreed that this matter requires an independent review. So it has been forwarded to the Public Integrity Unit. (Please contact Sheriff Tanner if you need a copy of the complaint.)
The PIU is a collaborative team formed of senior prosecutors and investigators from the office of First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe and my office. The First and 14th Circuit offices have a history of collaboration that predates this team. For instance, I assisted Solicitor Pascoe with a Statehouse corruption probe arising from a 2014 State Law Enforcement Division investigative report.
Recognizing the need for additional scrutiny, objectivity and transparency in cases involving public officials, we formed the PIU in 2020. It examines cases from either circuit that entail allegations of public corruption, officer-involved use of force and other matters involving public officials. This arrangement gives our offices additional resources and legal expertise for cases that can be quite complex. An example would be misconduct cases, which could be covered by both statutory and common law.
In instances in which charges are deemed appropriate, the case can be prosecuted by attorneys from either Solicitor’s Office. A recent example of the PIU’s work would include this past February’s conviction of Wade Franklin Rollins. The town of Summerville police officer was sent to prison for stealing guns and money from the agency’s evidence room. He was prosecuted by 14th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Sean Thornton after review by the PIU.
Tanner said sending a complaint to an independent investigator is not uncommon. His office sends cases to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on a regular basis.
Since his office and the Solicitor’s office receive funds through the county council, they both felt it was best for someone else to take a look, to make sure everything was above board.
Tanner says he does not know the timetable for the investigation results to be released. He did say there was “a lot” of information to go through.
Greenway was named county administrator in May of 2021.