Another investigation in Beaufort Co. Council votes to hire outside firm for inquiry
Beaufort County council members voted Monday to hire a firm to conduct an investigation into whether departments are complying with “relevant laws and county ordinances.”
The vote came after council members met in a special meeting for 2 1/2 hours. The meeting was closed, the County Council said on its agenda, to discuss “matters covered by attorney-client privilege and to discuss issues related to the employment of a person regulated by the council.”
The one person the County Council hires is the county administrator, who is Michael Moore.
After emerging, Councilman Joe Passiment of Sun City made a motion for the Beaufort County Council to engage an outside firm to conduct an inquiry of departments and/or personnel overseen by the county administrator. The inquiry, the motion said, will evaluate compliance with policies, procedures, relevant laws and county ordinances.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Two years ago, the County Council hired a law firm to review the county’s spending practices under former administrator Eric Greenway. A 36-page report, previously kept from the public eye, came out in 2025. It revealed county staff failed to follow their own procurement code as a result of “poor culture” that started at the top.
The council approved a number of new policies and controls following Greenway’s departure.
Regarding Monday’s move to hire outside council to look at departments, Councilman David Bartholomew of Beaufort told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet, “We’re just trying to make sure proper oversight is there, and we’re doing our job within the law.”
What firm is being hired and for how much was not immediately disclosed. The council also did not specify what departments specifically would be looked at.
Last year, the county also hired a firm to find out who was leaking sensitive information but a $60,000 internal workplace investigation came back as inconclusive.
Pinky Harriott’s departure
The closed meeting and subsequent vote to hire the outside firm comes almost a month after Pinky Harriott, the county’s chief financial officer, mysteriously disappeared from her post May 12 in a situation some have since dubbed “Pinky-gate.”
The county has not said if Harriott quit or was fired.
Harriott’s departure came during the height of the budget deliberations and followed a closed meeting May 11 in which the County Council discussed a letter regarding workplace management and a “whistleblower complaint related to fund allocations.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 10:30 AM.
