What happened to Beaufort County’s finance officer? Why the closed meetings?
The chief financial officer for Beaufort County has disappeared in the midst of budget deliberations. Meanwhile, the County Council is having closed-door meetings about a whistleblower complaint and workplace issues.
What’s going on in Beaufort County government?
Nobody’s saying much. But at least one County Council member thinks the county should be sharing more with the public about the unusual situation that’s rocked the local halls of power.
Here’s what we do know.
Pinky Harriott’s last day with the county was May 12, Beaufort County Spokeswoman Hannah Nichols confirmed last week.
Harriott was the county’s chief financial officer before her mysterious disappearance.
County officials have refused to disclose the circumstances surrounding her departure.
However, a recent meeting closed-door meeting by the County Council may shed some light on the situation.
Last Monday, the Council closed its doors to the public to receive legal advice on items that appeared to be related to Harriott’s sudden disappearance from the scene in the midst of budget deliberations.
The agenda for that meeting identifies the topics of discussion for the executive session as a letter regarding workplace management and a “whistleblower complaint related to fund allocations,” according to County Council records.
It does not specifically mention the chief financial officer or Harriott.
The agenda for the meeting lists this legal reasoning for closing the meeting: “Legal advice related to pending, threatened or potential claim or other matters covered by the attorney client privilege, settlement of legal claims, or the position of Beaufort County in other adversary situations involving the assertion against the County of a claim.”
The County Council has scheduled another closed door meeting for 4 p.m. Tuesday. The only agenda item is an executive session “to receive legal advice on matters covered by the attorney-client privilege and to discuss issues related to the employee of a person regulated by the council.”
The timing of Harriott’s departure was terrible.
On Monday (May 18), the County Council’s Finance, Administration and Economic Development was scheduled to hear a presentation by on the county’s proposed $203 million budget for 2026-27.
Harriott gave that presentation last year.
Nichols, the county spokesperson, said the budget is moving forward as scheduled, with the committee scheduled to vote Monday to move it forward to the County Council May 26. Three votes are needed to approve the budget. The final vote will be June 22.
“We don’t expect this to take the budget process off track,” Nichols said.
Other finance professionals remain on staff, she noted, including Finance Director Sandra Novak and Courtney Spiess, the budget manager. County Administrator Michael Moore is also very involved, Nichols added.
Harriott is a well-known Beaufort native who took over as the county’s chief financial officer in November 2024. She had previously served as the county’s budget director before leaving for a job at the University of South Carolina Beaufort in 2023.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on finance and management. As a certified government finance officer, she has over 14 years of experience in governmental accounting and finance across state and local government agencies.
She assumed the CFO role for Beaufort County following a tumultuous period for the county. Her tenure as budget director overlapped with former County Administrator Eric Greenway, who was terminated by the County Council in late July 2023 amid allegations of mismanagement, including failure to follow procurement statutes, a questionable relationship with a contractor-turned-employee and sexual harassment accusations.
In an interview with the Island Packet in 2024, Harriott said she knew her biggest task was to gain back public trust.
County Councilman Tom Reitz of Hilton Head told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet on Monday that Harriott’s departure “came up very quickly as a surprise.”
The County Council needs “find out what’s going on,” he added. Reitz says he plans to push for the release of more information about the situation to the public. Otherwise, he says, there’s too much innuendo.
“We owe it to the people to be clear, concise and transparent,” Reitz said.
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:15 AM.
