Two out of the four candidates running for Lexington County sheriff appeared at an event hosted by Lexington County Republicans on Thursday, March 28 to answer questions and hear concerns from local citizens. 

The two candidates who appeared were Billy Warren and Garry Rozier. 

Earlier reporting from the Chronicle details how Warren previously worked as the deputy sheriff for Lexington County before retiring in 2017 after working as a sergeant for the South Carolina Highway Patrol. 

Rozier previously worked as an agent for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as well as having worked for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department for seven years where he retired as a lieutenant over special operations, earlier reporting details. 

The other two candidates that are running are Alan Driggers who retired from the Lexington County Police Department in 2010 as head of the criminal intelligence unit so he could start his own business and incumbent Jay Koon who is seeking his third term as sheriff.

Neither appeared at last week’s event.  

Rozier and Warren fielded questions about a variety of different topics relating to local crime as well as leadership and staffing issues under the current sheriff. 

One concern was current issues with staffing of the jail.

Warren answered this by talking about the hardships of staffing the jail and how many new hires can slip through the program without being flagged for potential issues.

During the March 28 event, he cited a personal story about how one new officer left their car at the station for a weekend and unbeknownst to the department, they were wanted by the FBI. 

“They slid through our entire process. Our hiring process, a polygraph, everything. They slid through all of the ordered training that we gave her,” Warren said. “We had no idea that the FBI was watching a picture of that weekend. So can they slip through the program? They can. I've seen it. And that's how these jailers get hired."

Major issues brought up by those in attendance were with the current budget and an ongoing staffing shortage at the police department. 

Rozier talked about current leadership’s refusal to back their current officers. 

“Let me clarify that deputies are doing all they can, they just don't have enough help. They're at least 100 or more right now,” he said. “And I always hear and I won't call him by his name but I will say that the administration said we can't hire people. …They don't get the backing that they should. And I will tell you these guys do everything in their power to keep us all safe. And I'll  back each one of you though.”

Another concern raised by those in attendance was the high levels of drug trafficking throughout Lexington County.

Rozier proposed the creation of a task force to help reduce theft and drug trafficking. 

“We need to have a task force like back when I was with Lexington Sheriff's Department. They had a drug and theft combined task force where every agency within Lexington County had one or two police officers on that task force,” Rozier said.

Citizens also talked about their issues with the federal government.

Warren responded by talking about the sheriff as the citizen’s protection against federal government overreach. 

“Here's what you need to remember. The only person who can stop the federal government is your county sheriff. The chief of police can't do it. The mayor can't do it. The town council can't do it. ... Only one person's got that power,” he said.

Residents that came to learn more about each candidate on the ballot.

“I just want to make an informed decision and there are some people on the ballot that never get much attention like the share of the school board and those types of people,” Rebecca Carsioski said.

Other residents said they attended because they were dissatisfied with the current sheriff and wanted to learn about what the other candidates would do differently. 

“I have to figure out which platform of their’s is better because Koon cannot be sheriff again,” Jennifer Prouse said.

Prouse said she had many issues with how Koon is doing as sheriff including not responding to Freedom of Information Act requests from citizens, lack of regard for officer safety and long response times to calls.

“You can't get a deputy to your house. You call, you might get one six hours later, more than not at all,” she said.

Primary voting for sheriff is on June 11. The next event for sheriff candidates is April 9 starting at 6:30 p.m. at Life Springs Church in Lexington.