Complaints filed on land sale by family of Beaufort County attorney. What’s in the report?
Beaufort County has released an independent legal review addressing allegations against County Attorney Brittany Ward concerning her involvement in a land sale between the county and her parents. The review, conducted by Ashley Story of White & Story, LLC out of Columbia, concluded that Ward satisfied the terms of the county’s ethics policy but found that her familial connection to the property owners was not disclosed to the entire county council.
Despite findings, the timeline of events has raised concerns among the public about transparency and a potential conflict of interest, including documents sent to county council members dated Oct. 15 and 16 by a citizen who raised questions about the legality and ethical issues surrounding the sale.
The property at 20 Barrel Landing Road was purchased by Ward’s parents, Michael and Julienne Orr, in late 2021 for $290,000. In February 2024, the county acquired the 1.8-acre property through the Rural and Critical Lands Preservation Program for its appraised value of $434,000 — a $144,000 profit for the Orrs.
A FOIA request by The Island Packet further uncovered a resignation letter dated Oct. 22, in which Brittany Ward informed county department heads with a copy to County Administrator Michael Moore that her final day as county attorney will be Dec. 2. The legal review indicates that Ward tendered her resignation prior to the email accusations made by community members in mid-October.
County spokesperson Hannah Nichols suggested that Ward initially submitted her resignation letter to Moore prior to citizen allegations. However, this letter was not included in the documents provided in The Island Packet’s FOIA request. Moore did not respond to calls for comment. Nichols said that she is searching for documentation from the initial resignation.
Nichols also said Ward gave her a 60-day notice, effective Dec. 2, about two weeks before any citizen allegations were made.
Public release of the investigation
The report was released to the public after a Nov. 18 Beaufort County Council special meeting. During the meeting, the council held an executive session where they discussed matters pertaining to Ward and the circumstances surrounding the county’s purchase of 20 Barrel Landing Road.
After the executive session, Council Chairman Joe Passiment referred to County Administrator Michael Moore for a recommendation. Moore advised waiving attorney-client privilege to release the report publicly. The council approved the recommendation following a motion by Councilmember Lawrence McElynn, emphasizing the need for transparency in the matter.
The purchase came under scrutiny after an Oct. 15 citizen complaint raised concerns about whether Ward’s relationship to the property owners had been disclosed. While the report found that Ward had recused herself from all decisions and discussions involving the property, it also revealed that not all members of council were aware of Ward being the daughter of the property owners. However, the Community Services and Land Use Committee were informed, according to the report.
Story’s investigation included interviews with county employees, two county council members and individuals not employed by the county, and according to the report, before Story was called in to take on this report, she had never been hired to do other work by the county.
The investigation concluded that Ward was not involved in identifying properties that the county would be interested in buying, and that Ward informed the county administrator and her attorney counterpart in 2023 about her connection to the owner’s as well as recused herself from the process both verbally and in writing.
Timeline of events
The review lays out a timeline of events beginning in 2000, when the county council voted to purchase 30 acres at Barrel Landing and ending on Oct. 18, 2024, when county human resources contacted the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Per the report, Ward and her husband, who owned a motorcycle shop and was looking to expand his business, received a message on July 13, 2021 from a local commercial real estate agent about a property they might be interested in: 20 Barrel Landing Road. The property had been on sale for eight or nine years at that time, according to the report,.
Three days later, Ward’s parents put in a letter of intent to purchase the property. The Orrs signed a purchase agreement in August, and officially bought the property on Dec. 4, 2021. Ward had limited power of attorney to execute the purchase on behalf of her parents.
In January 2023, Ward notified the Passive Parks Department that her parents owned the property after receiving an inquiry about it. It is unclear from the report who made the inquiry. Ward did not attend a meeting held by the Rural and Critical Lands Preservation Program in February where 20 Barrel Road was discussed. In April, the Orrs submitted an application to the RCLP board for purchase of their property.
On June 12, 2023, the Community Services and Land Use Committee had a meeting where it was revealed that a senior staff member was related to the property owners, and Ward stepped out of the meeting.
In January 2024, the CSLU Committee recommended that the county purchase the property for the appraised value, $434,000, and the council voted to purchase the property. On Feb. 1, the Orrs signed over their property to the county, and months later in October, a concerned citizen reached out to the county.
Recommendation from report
The investigation recommended several steps to the county to prevent similar controversies in the future:
Waiving attorney-client privilege on the final report and sharing it publicly, which the county has already done.
Updating the county’s ethics policy to mandate written disclosures of conflicts of interest.
Requiring ethics training to ensure compliance with updated policies.
Streamlining organizational structure for county legal roles to avoid conflicts between administrative and council duties.
Messages left with Ward, Passiment, Moore and Story were not returned as of Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 3:14 PM.
