Hampton County, while not hit hard by coronavirus cases, enforces curfew out of caution
A nightly curfew is being enforced in portions of Hampton County in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The county, which had only two confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, and Estill, one of its largest municipalities, are two of the few locations in South Carolina that have adopted this approach to keep residents safe in the wake of this global pandemic.
The ordinances are in place for 60 days, and anyone found guilty of violating them could face up to a $500 fine and/or 30 days in jail.
The action is an effort to be proactive, area leader said, but was partially prompted by large gatherings still taking place despite Gov. Henry McMaster’s order March 23 giving law enforcement the discretion to disperse groups larger than three.
During an emergency meeting Thursday, Estill Town Council voted to put a curfew in place within the municipality from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The vote came after large gatherings, including at least one that involved discharge of firearms, were still occurring in town limits, the ordinance says.
“Town Council deems it appropriate to protect the health and safety of the citizens in the Town of Estill whether or not they find it necessary to protect themselves,” the ordinance says.
Read the full ordinance for the Town of Estill below:
In addition to not traveling around town during curfew, Estill’s ordinance prohibits people from buying or selling “any explosive, firearm, ammunition, or dangerous weapon of any kind” and selling, possessing, or consuming beer, wine, liquor, or “intoxicating beverages of any kind.”
Town Council will likely remove the weapons and alcohol sections from the ordinance during its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, Estill Town Administrator Caryn Miller said Monday.
Miller said those sections were meant to reinforce laws already in place, such as open container laws, but instead caused confusion.
“People didn’t read it the way it was meant to be read,” she said. “We are trying to make sure they stay in their homes and aren’t out and about and having big parties. We are trying to keep our citizens safe.”
On Friday, Hampton County Council passed its own ordinance placing a curfew on the unincorporated parts of the county from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
Council Chairman Clay Bishop said the council had to “take a bold step” like putting a curfew in place because of the late-night large gatherings still happening and members were “trying to get ahead of that.”
Read the full ordinance for Hampton County below:
He said in this situation, county council has authority only over the unincorporated portions of the county, adding that members also passed the curfew to show unity and support for the municipalities.
“Municipalities will have to do something on their own if they have to do something at all,” he said. “Council has taken the stance that we want to be as proactive as we can and not sit on the sidelines.”
He said he’s heard a mix of negative and positive reactions to the ordinance, but “if this saves even just one life, it’s worth it.”
Local officials’ main goal with the curfews is to keep residents safe, Hampton County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott said. She said county council passed its ordinance to show unity countywide, and added that other municipalities are also having their own discussions about passing local curfew ordinances.
“We’re lucky in that we were one of the last counties to get a diagnosis,” she said. “At some point people have got to start taking the threat of coronavirus seriously if we’re going to come out of it.”
Other municipalities such as Bennettsville, Clio, Greenville, Manning, and Chesterfield County have issued their own forms of curfews as well.
Columbia was also under curfew until the city issued a shelter-in-place order. Beaufort, Charleston and Mount Pleasant have issued similar orders, despite S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson’s opinion that only the governor can issue such orders.
Before the City of Beaufort issued the shelter-in-place order Monday, no parts of Beaufort County were under a curfew or shelter-in-place order, although the county had 156 confirmed cases of coronavirus and four deaths related to the disease as of Sunday.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 2:58 PM.
