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Solicitor to be named after Christmas

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BEAUFORT -- A replacement for 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Randolph Murdaugh likely won't be appointed until after Christmas, days before his resignation, a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday.

Murdaugh, 66, who has served as solicitor since 1987, announced in October that he will retire Dec. 31.

The 14th Judicial Circuit solicitor is an elected seat and serves as head prosecutor in criminal cases for Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. An interim solicitor must be appointed by the governor and will serve at least until November's general election.

"Right now we're consumed by the budget process," Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said Monday.

The office received notice of Murdaugh's resignation in late October, Sawyer said.

The delay in an appointment of an interim solicitor concerns local court and law enforcement officials.

"There's no problem unless you want to see the office run properly," Murdaugh said Tuesday.

He said someone should've been appointed by now, and he's doing work such as planning court schedules and grand jury hearings for next year though he plans to be finished with the job.

Murdaugh said his office receives about 6,000 cases a year, and he's personally involved in more than 10 percent of those. In addition to that, he said he offers advice and expertise to assistant solicitors on many more cases.

"The prosecutor's office directly relates to the safety of our community," Beaufort County Deputy Solicitor Duffie Stone said. "You have to have an organizational background" to run the only five-county judicial circuit in the state.

The solicitor's office is based out of Hampton, but Murdaugh said that probably will change because he believes the interim solicitor will be from Beaufort County.

Murdaugh said he would like his successor to be Stone, who was appointed deputy solicitor in January and before that worked with the office as a part-time prosecutor. Stone said Tuesday he wants the job.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner also said he'd like to see Stone as interim solicitor, calling Stone the most qualified for the job and saying it would be advantageous to have a solicitor who is a resident of the county. Tanner said he sent a letter of recommendation to the governor in late October, in conjunction with the sheriffs of the four other counties in the circuit.

Tanner said he hopes the decision is made as soon as possible.

"It kind of leaves law enforcement in limbo," he said. "It has the same effect on the staff of the Solicitor's Office. There are unhealthy rumors."

Tanner's wife, Angela McCall-Tanner, is an assistant solicitor in Beaufort County.

A death penalty case also remains in limbo. A trial for the 2004 death of Brett Kinney, in which Samantha Morgan-Major faces charges of murder, armed robbery and kidnapping, is scheduled to begin Feb. 13.

Co-defendant John Dykeman's trial will be scheduled later, Stone said. Dykeman is facing the same charges as Morgan-Major.

"If we don't know who the solicitor is," Murdaugh said, "we don't know who's going to try it."

Stone said he's been preparing the case for more than a year with Murdaugh, but the solicitor traditionally is in charge of prosecuting death-penalty cases.

Murdaugh said he's agreed to help Stone try the case if Stone is selected as interim solicitor.

"Whoever it is, they're going to have a lot of work to do," Murdaugh said.

Contact Lori Yount at 986-5531 or .