Ethics complaints withdrawn against former Beaufort County Administrator, Eric Greenway
Two state-level ethics complaints against former Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway have been withdrawn two years after they were originally filed.
Greenway began his tenure in May 2021 and was terminated in July 2023 in a unanimous County Council decision. He was two years into a five-year contract with Beaufort County. At the time, the council cited the former administrator’s alleged failure to follow the statutes on hiring outside contractors and his disregard for the county’s procurement process, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet.
The former administrator detailed the specific ethics allegations — one having to do with hiring his daughter to modify the county’s logo, and another having to do with unauthorized trips with local developers — and denied the ethical implications on a local podcast Thursday night.
These issues plus the allegations of harassment and retaliation by former county Wellness Director Lisa Lynch lead the council to vote to terminate his contract. Lynch was hired in early 2023 after Greenway created the position for her.
Those controversies led to other investigations into Greenway and his administration’s conduct, ranging from internal county reviews and ethics commission cases to criminal probes from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the state attorney general’s office.
As of August, the investigations had not resulted in any charges or indictments against Greenway. It is unclear what if any bearing the withdrawn ethics complaints will have on the ongoing criminal investigations involving Greenway.
Filer withdraws complaints
Kimberly Morgan, a longtime Beaufort County resident and professional researcher, has criticized the inner workings of the county’s administration and council. She said that filing the complaints are part of her “moral and civic duty” to do what she can to make Beaufort County a better place for all to live.
Morgan filed the original complaints in 2023 against Greenway. This is according to a letter addressed to Morgan from the State Ethics Commission.
The Island Packet obtained a copy of the letter sent to Morgan on Thursday. It was signed on an official letterhead by the commission’s executive director, Meghan Dayson.
The letter says that after Morgan filed the complaints, ethics commission staff opened an investigation into the allegations made against Greenway.
Almost two years into their investigation, Morgan requested to withdraw the complaints on July 9, citing in a phone call to the commission, “harassment, intimidation, and threats” directed at herself and her family that has had “a chilling effect” on her “right of free speech,” according to the letter.
The letter states that the commission staff was “unaware” of any threats directed at Morgan or her family because of the filed complaints. The Island Packet made several attempts to contact the State Ethics Commission, but reporters were unable to reach them before publication.
The letter encouraged Morgan to contact law enforcement in regards to what she described to the newspaper as “anonymous threatening messages.”
On July 21, the complaints were officially withdrawn by the ethics commission at Morgan’s request, according to the letter. Morgan told The Island Packet that she also requested to withdraw all other outstanding complaints she had filed with the ethics commission involving former and current Beaufort County officials.
Greenway joins local podcast
On Thursday night, Greenway joined former County Council Member Mike Covert on his podcast, Beaufort County’s House of Cards, to talk about the withdrawn complaints, among other things.
During the 33-minute segment, Greenway confirmed that he and his lawyer, Mark Moore, received notice from the commission confirming that the ethics complaints had been withdrawn. The Island Packet obtained a copy of the letter between the commission and Moore on Thursday.
Greenway said that he has never been contacted by SLED throughout the years’ long investigation. He later told The Island Packet that he believes that SLED’s investigation hindered the ethics probe timeline.
During the show, the former administrator called on the current council to publicly release a long-awaited spending report that revealed “laxity within Beaufort County government” that resulted in “flagrant violations” of the procurement code.
When asked if he would pursue legal action against the county if he was not charged with a crime, Greenway said that his time to do so has lapsed.
“The county council did what they did at the time,” Greenway told The Island Packet. “I don’t think they had the right to do what they did. They feel that they did.”
“In the state of South Carolina, it would be very difficult for me to mount a claim that they wrongfully terminated me, even though I had a contract,” he said. “If the county council didn’t feel like they needed to keep their word to me, to honor the terms of my contract, over what is a very minor situation that occurred, then they have to live with that. I don’t.”
Post-Greenway era
After about a year under the leadership of an interim administrator, Beaufort County hired Michael Moore as Greenway’s successor. He assumed his role in July 2024, emphasizing his wishes to increase transparency and gain back the public’s trust in county government.
“I think the tone has to be set at the top,” Moore said at the time. “Then I have to be held accountable for the performance of the staff and what we’re doing and how we’re doing business.”
Island Packet crime and pubic safety reporter Evan McKenna contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM.
