Dorchester County officials are set to get back to work on a proposal to crack down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

"I can tell you it's a high priority," said Councilman Larry Hargett, chairman of the safety committee that will study an ordinance introduced in November.

Beaufort County got the ball rolling last year with a proposal to revoke the business license of any company that knowingly hires illegal workers. Dorchester County is considering a similar ordinance.

Beaufort County finalized its Lawful Employment Ordinance last week, and it takes effect in 2008. Enforcement will rely on regular audits, County Administrator Gary Kubic said. Businesses are already required to get papers verifying citizenship when they hire workers. County inspectors will check those papers against other records to make sure the papers are valid. If not, the business will have 60 days to comply or lose its license.

"The whole idea is that an employer can be deceived as well (by workers who submit fake papers)," Kubic said. "We will work with the employer to help them out."

The ordinance encourages but does not require businesses to check workers' papers against a federal online database of Social Security numbers.

"This is just a reinforced effort to check I-9s (papers affirming citizenship)," Kubic said. "It's more than just accepting them at face value."

Beaufort County will have to hire several new inspectors to enforce the ordinance. Auditing one-fourth of the county's 5,000 businesses each year will cost about $210,000 a year, Kubic estimated. A recent increase in business license fees will pay for it, he said.

Dorchester County hasn't talked about how to pay for extra inspections to enforce the ordinance, Hargett said.

It's possible council's safety committee could start talking about the ordinance again Monday - council's next meeting - but the proposal is more likely to be on the agenda at the following meeting, Hargett said. The safety committee is likely to get new members after council elects a new chairman Monday, he said.

Councilman Richard Rosebrock, who introduced Dorchester County's proposed ordinance, said he expects to end up leading the safety committee and will make passing the ordinance a top priority.

"We've got to keep this a country of laws, or we're going to have a fiasco as far as security is concerned," Rosebrock said.

Reach Dave Munday at 745-5862 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.