September 2025

SCAC AWARDS COMPETITION

Counties' Innovation on Display During 2025 SCAC Awards Competition

Representatives from 11 South Carolina counties presented innovative projects that have improved the lives of residents in their communities.

Held Sept. 9 in Columbia, this year’s competition featured six entries for the J. Mitchell Graham Memorial Award, which recognizes counties that address community challenges, implement operational improvements or enhance residents’ quality of life in a unique way. The six entries highlighted projects from Chester, Dorchester, Edgefield, Georgetown, Richland and Spartanburg counties.

Judges also considered four projects for the Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award, which highlights the need for regional partnerships, strategies and solutions. Competition for this award is open to two or more political subdivisions (counties or county partnerships formed with city, town, district or regional government organizations) that worked together on a project. Entrants included projects from Fairfield and Georgetown counties, as well as partnership projects from Pickens and Greenville counties and from Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.

More information about each project can be found on our website. Presentation videos will be posted soon.

Award winners will be announced next month during the 2025 SCAC Awards Luncheon, which will take place after the 2025 Fall Advocacy Meeting.

COUNTY SPOTLIGHT

Georgetown County Public Information Team Earns National Honors

Georgetown County’s Public Information Department has been awarded the 2025 Award of Excellence in four categories by the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO).

NACIO's Awards of Excellence program honors the innovative, creative, and outstanding work of county government communicators and state county associations communications departments throughout the nation.

“We are incredibly proud to see Georgetown County’s public information efforts recognized on the national stage,” said Georgetown County Administrator Angela Christian. “Winning four awards from the National Association of County Information Officers—especially in a competition without size divisions—speaks volumes about the talent and dedication of our communications team. To be honored alongside and even above some of the nation’s largest counties is a tremendous achievement. These awards reflect our ongoing commitment to keeping residents informed, engaged, and connected to their local government.”

Georgetown County won the following in this year’s Awards of Excellence:

Public Information Officer Jackie Broach won the Best in Category Award in the Photo/Photo Series category for a series of photos of the Melissa Jefferson celebratory parade.
Broach won the Superior Award in the Printed Publications - Newsletter category for the Georgetown County Chronicle, which was rebranded earlier this year to Georgetown County Monthly.
Broach and Deputy Public Information Officer Randy Akers won the Superior Award in the Podcast Series category for First Friday with Georgetown County.
Broach and Akers won the Excellence Award in the Electronic Communications – Websites category for gtcounty.org.

NEWS

SC DMV Offers Guidance on Evaluating Updated State Licenses, ID Cards

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) recently released newly designed ID cards and driver’s licenses, plus a new paper certificate that customers will use for identification or driving while waiting for their more secure hard card to come in the mail.

DMV introduced the new method – receiving hard cards by mail versus in-person – along with the new design at two offices in the Columbia area on Aug. 27. After successful completion of the pilot program, the agency plans to roll out this new process statewide later this month. Current license and ID card customers do not need to proactively change their card and can continue to use it until its expiration date.

To learn more about the designs, how to best evaluate the new cards and paper certificates for legitimacy, see this question-and-answer document from the DMV.

If you need to do in-house calibration or otherwise program barcode readers, you can apply for a public key via DMV online.

Opioid Recovery Funding Deadlines and Resources Update

The South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addiction recently shared this one-page overview of resources that can assist counties with opioid settlement funds and projects.

The center was funded by the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board specifically to be of assistance to local administrators on settlement funded projects.

The document includes upcoming meetings and events, data resources and key contacts.

Counties must request disbursement of funds through the application process and have the application approved by the SCORF Board before Dec. 31. The last application period of 2025 for approval of abatement strategies begins Sept. 15 and ends Oct. 17.

If you have questions, contact Roberta Braneck at roberta.braneck@scorf.sc.gov.

GRANT CENTRAL STATION

SC ORS Reopens Applications for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant

The South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff’s Energy Office (SCEO) has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (SC EECBG) Program. It reopened the rolling application window and expanded the list of eligible entities. Entities that applied during the initial application periods are still eligible to submit an application in this third round. Requests for applications will remain open on a rolling basis, pending available funding, through 11:59 p.m. (ET) Dec. 1.

The expanded list of eligible South Carolina entities includes:

Counties or municipalities that are ineligible for US DOE EECBG Funding
Local public authorities
School districts
Special districts
Councils of Governments
Any other regional or intrastate governmental entity or instrumentality of a local government
New state agencies

For more information regarding which local entities in South Carolina were eligible to receive direct funding, please review the EECBG Local Government Allocations.

A webinar on the SC EECBG Competitive Program at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, will provide an overview of the updated guidance, application form and supplemental information worksheets for Round 3. Register here to participate.

Stay up to date with the SCEO’s SC EECBG program by emailing energycs@ors.sc.gov and ask to be added to the SC EECBG contact list.

EVENTS

Join Us for the 2025 Fall Advocacy Meeting

Join us for two days of education, advocacy and awards Oct. 14-15 in Columbia at the 2025 Fall Advocacy Meeting and Institute of Government.

This year's Fall Advocacy Meeting will include a panel discussion on establishing successful delegation partnerships, important state updates and reports from the SCAC policy steering committees.

Also joining us is state Department of Transportation Secretary Justin Powell, who will provide updates on road projects and the department's plans for the future.

The event will also feature an awards luncheon celebrating this year's entrants of the J. Mitchell Graham Memorial Award and the Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award.

Online registration is open until Oct. 7. Register today!

Registration Open for 2025 Attorney's Institute

Registration is now open for the SCAC Local Government Attorneys' Institute!

The daylong seminar will be held Friday, Nov. 21, at the Pastides Alumni Center in Columbia. The continuing education event is expected to be approved for a total of 6.0 hours of MCLE, including two hours for Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility (LEPR) and one hour for Substance Abuse/Mental Health (SA/MH).

Some of the session topics include:

2025 federal case law updates
Tax liens at property tax sales and IRS/ADA compliance
Ethics and AI

Download the agenda and register for the event today!

SHARE THE SPIRIT

Share Your Holiday Cheer and Your County's Ornaments with SCAC

SCAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA

”When we come together, rural and urban, large and small, we create something greater than the sum of our parts,” SCAC President Mary Anderson said to members after being elected to lead the Association for 2025-26. “We create a fabric of leadership, of unity and of special shared purpose that stretches and covers South Carolina.”

We look forward to an outstanding year elevating the collective strength of South Carolina’s 46 counties under Chesterfield County Council Chairwoman Anderson’s leadership.

Meet our newest team member: Weber Wilson!

As SCAC’s new government affairs liaison, he’ll be working closely with the rest of our advocacy team at the State House to ensure SC counties’ concerns are well represented.

A bit more about Weber: Favorite Food: Shepherd’s Pie🥔

Favorite Place to Vacation: Rocky Mountains ⛰️

Favorite Sports Team: Tennessee Volunteers Football 🏈

Favorite Animal: Bald Eagle 🦅

We're so excited to have him join us! Welcome, Weber!

Richland County Council Chairwoman and SCAC Board Member Jesica Mackey recently spoke to the National Association of Counties (NACo) about the importance of civic engagement, what it means and how diverse populations engage differently. Mackey’s interview is featured on NACo’s website along with thoughts from other county leaders and civic engagement tools to help readers understand the role counties play in shaping our nation.

Hear from Chairwoman Mackey 🔗 http://bit.ly/45PHvW0

For more information on civic engagement, visit NACo’s website.