Category: Government

WINNSBORO – In late December, County Administrator Vic Carpenter announced that the county had been verbally notified it would be fined $55,000 by the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy for staffing violations at the Fairfield County Detention Center. During Monday night’s county council meeting, Carpenter announced other consequences for the violations, including the termination of key Detention Center employees.

“On Monday, Jan. 5, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy formally levied a fine and probation against Fairfield County regarding the training status at the Detention Center of some employees,” Carpenter said from the dais, “On Wednesday, Jan. 7, the [Detention Center] director, deputy director, and training captain were terminated. No other staffing changes were planned.”

The Criminal Justice Academy’s notification stated: “[The County] shall pay a civil penalty of $1,071,770.00 for being out of compliance with SC Code of Laws Section 23-23-40 and SC Code of Regulations 37-022, of which $1,016,770.00 is suspended upon immediate payment of $55,000.00 and successful completion of two years’ probation, quarterly audits performed by CJA, and Captain Artis successfully attending and completing Training Manager Development course at CJA. Payment shall be made within thirty (30) days of this order to the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. Failure to pay within thirty (30) days of this order will result in further action against the [County].”

“The county’s Community and Public Services Director Joey Price has assumed the role of acting director and a major effort to find a replacement has already begun,” Carpenter said. “It is the commitment of Fairfield County that its Detention Center will always be run in a fashion and manner that are always compliant with state and federal regulations and the law. And that it be run in a fashion that brings credit and comfort to our citizens.”

Carpenter said in December that the county had been placed on a two-year probationary period, and that it could potentially receive up to a $1M fine, all for the same offense.

“So, if, during that two years, we don’t take care of business as we should, we could get some kind of fine,” he said. “If we get past two years with no further problems, then there will be no fine beyond the $55,000.”

Carpenter said the violations were caused mostly by unfiled paperwork.

“When we got right down to it, the county just had not filed employee paperwork correctly or in a timely fashion,” he said. “Now the paperwork has been filed for those individuals.”

BLYTHEWOOD – During a special called meeting at noon on Monday, Nov. 10, Blythewood Town Council members unanimously voted for final approval of Ord. 2025.008 to amend the Town’s code of ordinances to reflect the change in the form of government from a mayor-council form to a council-manager form.

A ‘whereas’ clause was added to clarify that while the ordinance took effect on second reading (at the Nov. 10 special called meeting), the change in the form of government will not take place until midnight, Nov. 24.

Council will hold its regular Nov. council meeting later that same day at 6:30 p.m. at the Manor when Councilwoman Trish Hovis and Councilman Rich McKenrick will be sworn into office.

In the amended ordinance, the mayor is the default presiding officer at a council meeting, according to Blythewood’s town attorney, but a provision was added to Sec. 30.01(A) of the ordinance to allow the council to elect a presiding member for a meeting that would be someone other than the mayor. The state law does not require that the mayor shall preside at meetings of council.

In that same section, ‘for that question only’ was added to the following sentence: A member present but disqualified from voting on a question by state law due to a conflict of interest shall not be counted for purposes of a quorum for that question only.

Sec. 32.03 (A)(1) of the ordinance was amended to allow the town manager to “appoint and remove any officer or employees of the town and fix the salaries of such officers and employees …” other than those that are specifically provided in state law for council to appoint.”

The word ‘town’ was also included with the word manager where it appeared in the ordinance.

According to the Municipal Association of SC’s guide to forms of government, the Council-Manager form (SC Code Title 5, Chapter 13) must have four, six, or eight council members plus the mayor. Council holds all legislative and policy power and employs the town manager, town attorney, and municipal judge. Council also adopts a balanced budget, which is prepared for council by the manager.

Under the Council-Manager form, the mayor has no additional power compared to other council members, and has no administrative responsibilities. He/she presides at council meetings by tradition, not by statutory authority. The mayor may exercise informal authority as leader of council and staff as spokesperson for the council.

The manager, under the Council-Manager form, serves as chief executive and head of the administrative branch, appointing and removing employees, including the clerk. The manager also sets salaries, prepares and administers the annual budget and makes financial reports. The manager also advises council on departments and appointments.

COLUMBIA—A Richland County woman who suffered a heart attack after she says town officials improperly detained her inside Doko Manor has filed suit against the town and its mayor.

On Oct. 30, 2025, town residents Michelle and Fred Layman sued the Town of Blythewood for gross negligence, negligence, defamation, false imprisonment, and abuse of process. The suit also accuses Mayor Sloan Griffin of defamation in his individual capacity.

A response to the lawsuit had not been filed as of press time.

According to the suit, Michelle Layman is the spouse of Fred Layman, director of operations of Doko Manor, a wedding and event venue where Town Council often meets.

On Sept. 11, 2025, Michelle Layman said she entered Doko Manor during normal business hours to drop off a check on behalf of her husband. Layman said she tried to drop off the check with Kim Kacsur, the assistant director, who was in a closed door meeting at the time.

After waiting a while, Layman said in the suit that she slid the check and documents under the assistant director’s door to ensure they were delivered before the close of business.

It was then that Griffin approached Layman and demanded she retrieve the check, according to the lawsuit. Layman said she politely refused, stating any issue should be taken up with her husband.

The suit says that, “Defendant Griffin became increasingly insistent that Plaintiff retrieve the check.”

Layman, not wanting to argue with Griffin and needing to pick up her other children, attempted to leave Doko Manor, according to the lawsuit.

“As one of multiple and separate acts of negligence, Defendant Griffin instructed Walt Davis, an employee of Defendant Town, that Plaintiff and her infant child were not allowed to leave unless she took the check with her.”

In response to Griffin’s instruction(s), Davis stood at the door to Doko Manor, held the door shut so Layman and her infant child could not leave, and confined her within the building, according to the suit.

“As she pleaded with Mr. Davis to let her leave, Defendant Griffin continued instructing Mr. Davis that Plaintiff was not allowed to leave,” the suit states.

“As Griffith and Davis continued to unlawfully detain Plaintiff, Town of Blythewood human resources and finance director, Jennifer Edwards, walked over and personally observed what had transpired; however, Jennifer Edwards neither said nor did anything to intervene in the unlawful seizure of Plaintiff and her infant child, the lawsuit asserts.

“For an extended period, Defendant Town employees and officials forcibly blocked the exits to ensure Plaintiff and her infant child were not free to leave,” the suit stated.

“The longer Plaintiff was held against her will, the stress and fear for her safety and that of her infant child exponentially increased, causing her to suffer emotional and physical distress, including shortness of breath, headache, and chest pains,” the suit states.

“Mr. Davis and Defendant Griffin, two men significantly larger and more imposing than Plaintiff, continued to block and hold the door closed, so she could not leave,” the suit continues.

“The continued false imprisonment of Plaintiff, made her increasingly distressed, and afraid, not only for herself, but for her infant child.”

According to the suit, Layman suffers from hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, and her detainment “exacerbated” her hypertension. She said she asked for permission to step outside to get fresh air and retrieve her medication, but says in the suit that Davis refused.

“With her physical symptoms increasing in severity, Plaintiff made a desperate call to Fred to plead for help. Layman called her husband, Fred Layman, who called 911.”

Doko Manor surveillance footage recorded the incident, which was included as evidence in support of Michelle Layman’s lawsuit.

In the suit, Layman says the mayor and town staff each committed “a separate and distinct act of negligence” by not assisting, rendering aid, or calling 911.

“Although Plaintiff was clearly in both emotional and physical distress … Defendant Griffin, Mr. Davis, and/or Mrs. Edwards both individually and collectively refused to allow Plaintiff and her infant child to go outside,” the suit states.

Layman was subsequently taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined she suffered a heart attack. Doctors noted she was hypertensive, with her blood pressure measured at 192/100, according to the suit.

The lawsuit further states that due to “Defendant Griffin’s misrepresentations,” a Richland County deputy placed Michelle Layman on trespass notice.

“After suffering at the hands of multiple defendant town employees, suffering a wrongful imprisonment, suffering from a heart attack, suffering from other various acts and omission of the Defendant Town, and upon from her discharge from the hospital, Plaintiff found the trespass notice in her infant child’s stroller,” the suit states.

A Richland County Sheriff’s Office incident report differs from Michelle Lehman‘s and the video account of what happened. The report states Layman “entered the property without authorization and slipped a white envelope in the main office with nothing but a person’s name on it and tried to leave.”

A responding deputy also wrote in the report that Fred Layman’s claims of his wife being held against her will “were untrue.”

Layman has contested the veracity of the incident report, saying officers gathered information from the mayor, but not from her.

As a result of the incident, Layman said she suffered “embarrassment, humiliation, fear, horror, depression, mental anguish, loss of freedom, loss of quality of life, anxiety, emotional distress, economic damages, as well as personal and professional reputational damages.”

Layman is asking for a jury trial. She is seeking legal expenses, other damages as allowed by law, and any other relief deemed proper by the court.

No trial date has been set. A deadline of May 26, 2026, has been set to complete mediation, according to the Richland County public index. Attorney for the case is Jeremiah J. Shellenberg of Thad L. Myers, P.A. & Associates and A. Kip McAlister with Hawk Law Group, LLC.

The case will be tried in the Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Columbia. The lawsuit is listed on the Richland County Public Index and below:

BLYTHEWOOD – Following a lengthy, contentious executive session called Monday night, Sept. 22, in which Blythewood Town Council members received legal advice on “Manor operations and incidents,” council voted to release to the public a surveillance video of an incident that occurred in the Manor on Thursday, Sept. 11 involving Mayor Sloan Griffin and a Manor employee.

The Manor incident was first reported in the Sept. 18 edition of The Voice (Conflicting accounts emerge from Manor Incident). Michelle Layman, the wife of Manor Director Fred Layman, gave this account of the incident:

“I went to the Manor to give a check for payment,” Michelle Layman said. “I have my baby and go to staff’s office to give the check.

“I was told that they will not accept my check and that I cannot leave the building without taking it with me. When I put the check under the office door and start to leave, the mayor and a staff member hold the front door so I cannot leave. I get scared and become distressed when they won’t let me out of the building. I told them I need air and that I need my medicine out of my car, but they keep holding the door. I get exhausted and sit down in a chair, then they stop holding the door.”

“During struggle to get out, before I sit down, I called my husband to tell him what is happening,” Michelle Layman said. Fred Layman, who told The Voice that he was on medical leave for cancer treatment, called 911.

Michelle Layman, who ended up in a medical emergency, was issued a trespassing notice by a Richland County Deputy. She was transported by Richland County EMS to a local hospital where she was admitted and discharged days later. Michelle Layman told The Voice that her doctors said she had suffered a mild heart attack.

The Voice received a copy of the video from the incident on Tuesday. It shows a male Manor employee holding the Manor door closed. Michelle Layman appears to be in distress as she tries to open the door and leave the building.

The full surveillance video is almost two hours long, too large to post on Facebook in its entirety. The Voice posted a 3-1/2 minute clip.

The posted clip does not include the footage that shows Michelle Layman pushing her 10-month-old baby daughter in a stroller, walking at a normal pace down a hallway towards the door to leave. As she approaches the door a male Manor employee steps in front of her, blocking her and her baby from leaving.

The clip posted on The Voice’s Facebook page begins with Layman already blocked by the male staffer who can be seen holding the doors to the Manor closed.  Layman at first appears to plead with him and the mayor and another town employee, a woman who continues to stand and walk nearby.

As the male employee holds the door, Layman pushes on it until the door slightly bulges out. The mayor walks over to the male employee and they talk. The mayor then walks outside and in front of the door Michelle Layman is trying to push.

Layman then tries to push the stroller around the male employee to get to another door, but the male employee reaches that door ahead of Layman and blocks it as well.

At no point does it appear that the mayor or the female employee offer to help Michelle Layman exit the building. The female employee’s role in the incident is not clear.

The Vote

As the council members left executive session and returned to open session Monday night, tensions were high, with Griffin using curse words as he approached the dais to be seated.

Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock made a motion.

“Mr. Mayor, I move to release the video effective immediately in regards to the incident that occurred on Sept. 11, 2025, from approximately 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p. m,” Brock said.

Councilman Rich McKenrick added a friendly amendment to the motion.

“I would suggest getting an incident report from each employee that was present during the alleged incident and give it to the county attorney,” McKenrick said.

In a roll call vote, Griffin joined Brock, Councilwoman Andrea Fripp and McKenrick – a majority of the quorum – who had already voted to pass the motion before Griffin cast his ‘yes’ vote. Councilwoman Erica Page voted against the measure.

“It’s a public video that took place in a public place with public employees. It needs to be released immediately. Releasing it doesn’t change what’s on the video.”

Fripp asked if releasing the video would have a negative impact on the ongoing investigation.

“Is there an open and active investigation into this?” Brock questioned and then answered his own question. “No. The answer is No. So, there’s no negative impact on the investigation because one doesn’t exist.

“Will it spur one?” he asked, then again answered. “Absolutely. Should it? 1,000 percent.”

Both Driggers and Balthazar advised council members against releasing the video, according to several council members.

The next day, Tuesday, Sept. 23, Driggers allowed The Voice to have a copy of the two-hour video, but he said the Town will not post any part of the video on the Town’s social media, website or on You Tube. He said if anyone wants to see the video, they must bring a storage drive to town hall, and the video will be copied on to it.

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Related:
Conflicting accounts emerge from Manor incident
Coach says she lost thousands in fees after months of paying Manor rental fees

BLYTHEWOOD – A check that was presented to and rejected by the Blythewood mayor and Manor officials on Sept. 11 has helped fuel an investigation into missing Manor reservation payments by the Richland County Sheriff’s department. A story about the Sept. 11 incident appeared in the Sept. 18 edition of The Voice.

The story began with Michelle Layman, the wife of Manor Director Fred Layman, taking a check to the Manor and ended, she said, with her being prohibited from leaving, having a medical emergency and being transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released three days later.

Fred Layman told The Voice that the check his wife took to the Manor represented funds he had previously received via Cash App from a cheerleading coach for a space she rented in the Manor for practices for her cheer team. He said he had failed to turn the money in on time due to being on medical leave from his job.

Fred Layman said the check was signed but not filled out because he wasn’t sure how much was owed.

Two days later, after reading the story in The Voice, Ashanti Thames of Palmetto Storm Cheer called The Voice to say she was the coach who had sent money to Fred Layman’s Cash App for the check that Layman’s wife took to the Manor.

Thames went on to say that she is now learning from town hall officials that some of the more than $10,000 she has paid out over the last eight months for her cheerleading team’s practice sessions at the Manor has not been accounted for.

In an interview with The Voice, Thames described a patchwork of Cash App transfers, personal checks and cash payments she says she made to Fred Layman beginning in late October of last year. She said her cheer team practiced most Tuesdays and Thursdays and occasionally on Saturdays from the last week in October, 2024, through the spring and a few times during the summer. The program officially ended Aug. 30.

“Fred paid the Town out of his pocket. I Cash App’d the money to him, and he’d apply it to my reservations,” Thames said.

Town officials now say that not all of those payments were credited to the cheer coach, and they say they are still not sure if any payments are missing.

The Arrangement

According to Thames, she launched the competitive squad after branching off from a local sideline program. Fred Layman, whose daughter was on Thames’s cheer team, suggested the team practice at the Manor, according to both Thames and Fred Layman. She said she paid $100 per hour for practices for her cheer students, but that after Fred Layman’s daughter dropped out of the program a couple of months later, the fee went up to $150 per hour.

Thames said she paid $300 per day on the two weekdays ($600 per week) and $600 for longer four-hour Saturday sessions. On weeks with Saturday practice, she estimates she was out of pocket about $1,200.

She said she learned last week from Town officials that she should have been paying $100 per hour for her cheer sessions, not $150.

Thames said her payments over the eight months to the Manor included: Cash App transfers to Layman totaling $2,950 (11 transactions); more than $4,000 in cash to Layman; $1,000 in cash to another Manor staffer, and $400 in checks to Layman and about $1,600 in checks to the Town.

While she did not receive receipts, Thames has provided The Voice with bank screenshots and Cash App records documenting the payments. She said the amounts she paid include three separate $500 deposits tied to contracts she signed with Fred Layman over the course of the eight months, but that one of the contracts is now “missing.” Fred Layman confirmed the missing contract to The Voice. Thames said none of the $500 deposits have been returned to her by the Town.

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” Thames said. “I kept looking at my bank account, trying to figure out why the checks I had given were never deposited,” she said.

Cancellations and overcharges

Beyond the missing payments, Thames said frequent last-minute cancellations by the Manor compounded her losses. She said she prepaid for February and March, but the team was able to practice only once in February and twice in March due to cancellations she was told were due to conflicting events, such as a town hall meeting and a baby shower.

She said she has since learned from town officials that the Manor does not cancel paid reservations but, instead, moves users to different time slots. Thames disputes that this happened consistently for her team and says parents threatened to pull their athletes because the schedule became erratic.

Where Things Stand

Council members have told The Voice that Driggers has shared little with them about the investigation of both Fred Layman’s handling of the cheerleading teams’ payments and Mayor Sloan Griffin’s alleged involvement with comping the use of the Manor (partially or totally) for friends. They say Driggers and the attorney have assured them that Griffin would not be involved in the investigation concerning the missing cheer payments.

Thames, however, told The Voice that Griffin has been in contact with her via phone several times since the Sept. 11 incident at the Manor concerning her payments. She said Griffin was also included in a meeting with her, Driggers, and the town attorney concerning her missing payments.

Thames said she provided town officials with Cash App logs and bank images, and is helping to reconstruct a day-by-day practice ledger so the Town can calculate a refund.

 By her rough estimate, Thames said the Town owes her at least “$2,000 – $3,000” for overcharges, her payments that she said were never turned in to the Manor, and her payments for canceled sessions. She expects that figure could rise as more dates are reconciled. She said she does not know how many of her payments were recorded with the Town.

Thames provided The Voice with text messages from Fred Layman promising to repay any money that he owed her.

Thames said Palmetto Storm Cheer is “out of money” because of the losses.

“You all owe me,” Thames recalled telling Town officials. “My program is out of money because of this.” Thames said she’ll keep supplying documents until every dollar is accounted for.

RIDGEWAY – Sixty-four homes are one step closer to coming to Ridgeway.

On June 26, the Fairfield County Planning Commission unanimously approved the proposed Rockton Place subdivision to be built off South Coleman Highway in Ridgeway.

No rezoning was required. The favorable recommendation now heads to Fairfield County Council for consideration.

Joseph Toledo, community development department director, said prior to the vote that Rockton Place complies with Fairfield’s land management ordinance.

“The proposed site plan for 64 residential lot sites aligns with the county’s regulations governing land use and there are no apparent deviations from the applicable standards as approved,” Toledo said.

Sidewalks are not included in the proposed site plan but they could be added later on, Toledo added.

Ken Queen, the applicant for Rockton Place, said homes would start at 2,500 square feet.

Since Rockton Place will consist of predominantly custom built homes, exact pricing data is unavailable. The development team said a pair of Columbia area homebuilders would be building the custom homes.

“We’ve gone the non-traditional route. We’re not using a track or production builder. We’re using two of the finest custom builders in the Columbia area,” Queen said. “Both were agreeable with the minimum of 2,500 square feet. That’s set in the restrictive covenants that have already been drawn.”

Clay Cannon, an engineer associated with the project, said the development’s low density makes it attractive to buyers and existing residents, alike.

“This is beautiful property, and the development team’s desire was to maintain the integrity of the land,” Cannon said. “There are two beautiful ponds that are on the property. We’re looking for low density, a minimum of one acre per lot size.”

According to planning records, Rockton Place will be built on property to the west of South Coleman Road, near Geiger Elementary School. A series of roads connecting the subdivision with South Coleman Road include Rockton Place Ave., Rockton Ponds Drive, Rockton Woods Lane and Rockton Ridge Court.

The development will be served by Ridgeway (Winnsboro) water. Sewer services will be via septic tank.

Randy Bright, a Ridgeway resident who often speaks publicly about Fairfield County matters, praised the subdivision, touting the generous lot sizes and relatively low density. He told planning commission members he hopes that future subdivisions are similarly well thought out.

“When we get a developer in Fairfield County that checks all the good boxes that you have mentioned and checks the good acreage boxes, it’s a good day. It’s a rare day,” Bright said. “It’s the first real subdivision we’ve had in a decade aside from the Teacher Village. I think that it could be the beginning of something very big. Looking online at the builders, it looks like we have got a good product here for the people who may move in. it will be a positive thing for the entire area.”

Bright went on to “make a plug” for instituting development fees to help offset impacts from new residential development, saying future growth is inevitable.

“We have a very fragile infrastructure. It doesn’t adequately serve our county now,” he said. “If our county is going to truly grow without putting undue stress on developers, without harming the prices of new homes, we have to have implementation of development fees.“

Bright drew a distinction between development fees and impact fees, saying development fees are more appropriate for Fairfield.

“Development fees are less expensive than impact fees and have fewer boxes to check,” Bright said. “Without development fees up front, we simply cannot support much more growth.”

BLYTHEWOOD – The opening salvo at Tuesday night’s town council meeting was prompted by a two-page agenda heavy with major issues, including park security, budget review, a curfew for the town, and park safety rules and regulations. Discussion and final vote on the town’s massive land development code, and a public hearing on an ordinance calling for a referendum on a change of the town’s form of government.

Because of time limitations at the meeting for so many major agenda items, Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock called for the deferral of seven items regarding park safety. Later in the meeting, second reading of the land development code and an executive session called by Mayor Sloan Griffin were also deferred.

During the meeting, Councilman Rich McKenrick noted the absence of any cost quotes or information on one of the safety items on the agenda (a fence around Doko Park) and said he wasn’t going to vote on a fence he didn’t have quotes for.

McKenrick also balked at discussing and voting on eight HVAC units for the Manor without estimate documents.

It was suggested to defer those items for discussion and approval two days later on Thursday, May 29, when there would be more time for discussion.

That meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Manor.

Park Security

The following agenda items will be discussed and possibly voted on during the May 29 meeting.

• Funding for Emergency Gate Repairs and Upgrades.
• Funding for Fencing the Outer Perimeter of Doko Meadows Park.
• Funding for Park Security Camera Improvements and upgrades.
• Updating Doko Meadows Park Hours.
• Funding for Law Enforcement for Future Town Events (Movies in the Park, Juneteenth, Fourth of July & Parade)

New Business

• Ordinance 2025.003 – An Ordinance to Establish a Curfew for Minors in the Town of Blythewood.
• Ordinance 2025.004 – An Ordinance Amending Chapter 93: Regulations for Conduct of Persons and Uses of Facilities and Grounds Within the Manor at Doko Meadows and Doko Meadows Park, Sections 93.01 and 93.02 of the Town Code and adding Section 93.03 to the town code to strengthen regulations governing conduct, safety, and enforcement in public parks and playground Town Code and Adding Section 93.03 to the Town Code to strengthen Regulations Governing Conduct, Safety, and Enforcement in Public Parks and Playground.

Executive Session

An executive session will be held to discuss a contractual matter: consulting services agreement for town administrator search and a personnel matter: update regarding finance director search.