Dual office holding was once prevalent in the Palmetto State, but it concentrated too much prestige and power in the hands of too few people. State law now says that a person can't hold dual positions for profit or honor.
The two resident Jasper County members of its legislative delegation say they are investigating the issue because some counties allow people to serve on two boards until one of their terms expires. An S.C. Election Commission spokesman said the issue is determined by the county's legislative delegation. The governor's office takes a different approach. Will Folks, a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, said a person automatically forfeits a position on an old board once they accept appointment to a new board or commission.
Dual office holding became an issue in Jasper County in October when two new members were appointed to the county's Election Commission. Gov. Sanford selected Carl Tyler, a member of the Transportation Committee, to fill one of several vacancies on the Jasper's Election Commission. Dual office holding by Andrea Smallwood, who serves on the Transportation Committee and is an elected member of the board of education, also became known.
That local officials think dual office holding may be legal runs counter to the thinking of the S.C. Fraternal Order of Police, that supports two bills introduced in the S.C. legislature in 2003. The bills, S 247 and H 3551 would allow a police officer or a corrections officer to hold an office in another jurisdiction without it being dual office holding, according to the fraternity's Web site.
The S.C. School Boards Association also advises potential school board members that they "must not violate the South Carolina Constitution's restrictions on dual office holding."
Beaufort County lost a third of its Capital Sales Tax Commission in February because dual-office holding conflicts.
Former Lt. Gov. Brantley Harvey and Hilton Head Island Realtor Andy Klepchick removed themselves from the panel, citing a clause in the state constitution that prohibits residents from holding two offices of "honor or profit" at the same time.
Harvey took himself off the panel because he sits on the S.C. State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education; and Klepchick did the same because he's a member of the board of directors for Hilton Head's South Island Public Service District. Before that the County Council removed elected councilmen from the tax commission because it constituted dual office holding.
In South Carolina, most dual office holding couldn't be considered "double-dipping" because people aren't paid much, if anything for local boards and commissions, except, of course, in Jasper County, where they are paid a monthly stipend.
But dual office holding goes to the core of ethics and checks and balances. Dual office holding concentrates power in the hands of too few people. If one government agency must make a decision on actions of another, what would happen if a person were a member of both boards? For example, if a member of the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals also served as a member of the Beaufort County Board of Education, it may have affected the outcome of a recent vote on a high school in the Dale Community Preservation District. The vote surely would have made its way to the State Ethics Commission, if not a court of law. Concentrating power in a small number of people serves to limit public discussion of important issues and a greater chance that improprieties may go unchecked.
Jasper County's newly appointed election commissioner, however, says he won't resign his Transportation Commission post until he see something in writing. That is unfortunate, even if it wasn't against the law because it denies another member of the community an opportunity for public service.
It's best that a larger number of people serve the public in elected or appointed positions of honor or pay. And, in South Carolina, the law commands it.