Missing FOIA documents reveal blurred timeline of Beaufort County attorney’s resignation
Concerns about Beaufort County’s pledges of transparency and accountability surfaced when only partial documents related to former County Attorney Brittany Ward’s resignation were provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The original request, made by The Island Packet in late October, asked for “all records and communications related to Brittany Ward’s resignation, including resignation letters...” In response, the county’s records department sent documents on Nov. 20 that included an email labeled “Brittany Ward Resignation.” It came just one day after an independent legal review that addressed allegations against Ward regarding her involvement in a land sale between the county and her parents, was made public.
The Packet noted inconsistencies in the dates of Ward’s resignation announcement to her colleagues and the county’s legal review, which then led to questions about whether Ward resigned before or after a citizen raised concerns about the legality and ethics of a land sale.
It is clear that the resignation announcement, dated Oct. 22, to department heads came after the citizen complaints, but the county did not initially provide the official resignation letter, dated Oct. 1.
Legal review completed
Beaufort County released the legal review, conducted by Ashley Story of White & Story, LLC in Columbia, on Nov. 19. The review concluded that Ward met the terms of the county’s ethics policy but noted that her familial connection to the property owners had not been disclosed to the entire county council. Another public records request by The Packet uncovered that the review took nine hours to complete, including 2 hours and 45 minutes of interviews, and cost the county about $2,181.
The legal review did not provide a clear date for Ward’s resignation, just that it occurred prior to the concerned citizen’s emails.
After questioning the discrepancy in dates, The Packet received additional FOIA documents from the county’s records department on Dec. 6, which included a resignation letter from Ward to County Administrator Michael Moore, dated Oct. 1.
Beaufort County spokesperson Hannah Nichols explained the oversight, saying, “...there was an internal misunderstanding on whether all relevant records concerning this case had been received, so the case was marked complete prematurely. This came to the attention of our FOIA specialists when additional documentation was provided, and the case was reopened at that time.”
When questioned further, Nichols added, “This is not a common occurrence — our team of FOIA specialists works hard to process thousands of requests each year. The oversight was realized when a department contributed additional documents to the request, so the case was reopened.”
County attorney turnover
Ward’s resignation is unrelated to the investigation, Nichols said, adding that Ward gave her a 60-day notice about two weeks before any citizen allegations were made.
Both Ward and former County Attorney Thomas Keaveny, who announced his retirement in July, have both stepped down from their positions after a challenging tenure in office. Both attorneys were present during a period marked by nine ethics complaints against Beaufort County officials.
Three against former Parks and Recreation Director Shannon Loper
Two against former Administrator Eric Greenway One against former Deputy Administrator Whitney Richland
One against Special Assistant to the County Administrator Hank Amundson
One against Assistant County Administrator for Infrastructure Jared Fralix (According to Nichols, the case was dismissed Sept. 13, though the state Ethics Commission would not confirm or deny this.)
One against former Capital Improvement Projects Director Eric Larson
The county’s deputy attorneys — Dylan Kidd and Brian Hulbert — will temporarily manage the caseloads of Ward and Keaveny while the county advertises to permanently fill their position, Nichols said.
