Horry County Public Safety Committee Meeting - August 11, 2026
Horry County Public Safety Committee Meeting - August 11, 2026
The Horry County Public Safety Committee met on August 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in Multipurpose Rooms B & C. Chairman Danny Hardee presided. The committee approved the agenda with one modification (moving the inmate cost update to item four) and approved the minutes from June 10, 2026. Multiple resolutions were passed unanimously, and updates were received from the Police, Clerk of Court, and Magistrate offices. No public input was received.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the agenda contents as amended.
- Approved the minutes from the June 10, 2026, meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were received.
Discussion Items
- Local Training and In-House Service Initiatives – Chief Leonhardt reported that since the last meeting, two additional supervisor training sessions (entry-level and mid-level) had been completed. The new training center and drug lab are coming online. The national accreditation (CALEA) process is progressing, with policy manuals being updated. Council members commended the department's progress and emphasized the importance of training.
- Clerk of Court Update – Presented by a representative on behalf of Clerk Renee Elvis. The office has collected over $1 million in set-off debt (income tax intercept) over five years and $2.2 million in bail bond forfeiture money since 2022. The representative highlighted the need to update courtrooms with computers and requested a new cost estimate. Council asked for a report for the upcoming budget.
- Magistrate Update – Chief Magistrate Arakas reported that the magistrate system is fully staffed with ten magistrates, the highest number in some time. Horry County has the most filings and adjudications in the state. A new animal and litter court has been established and is well-received. Plans for a central court complex are moving forward, with some pushback from Conway. Council expressed support and appreciation.
- Inmate Cost Update – This item was moved to discussion item #4 on the agenda but was not addressed during the meeting. It was deferred to a later date.
The committee also received written department reports for Police, Fire/Rescue, Animal Care Center, Emergency Management, 911, Sheriff’s Office, and Detention Center.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution R- -26 (Fire Prevention Week) – Unanimously passed designating October 4–10, 2026, as Fire Prevention Week with a theme on lithium-ion battery safety.
- Resolution (Fire Service Agreement) – Unanimously passed approving a standard form fire service agreement with the City of Conway.
- Resolution (Emergency Management Performance Grant) – Unanimously passed accepting the 2026 grant of $87,682 (50/50 match met by in-kind) from the state.
- Resolution (Transfer for Public Safety Application) – Unanimously passed transferring $94,500 from the General Fund and $94,500 from the Fire Fund to fund the Aware Plus public safety application (total $189,000).
- Resolution (Casino Boat Revenues) – Unanimously passed transferring $75,000 in excess FY2026 casino boat revenues to support the Little River Chamber of Commerce's Halloween Fright Nights event.
- Community Benefit Fund Resolutions – Unanimously approved three allocations: $1,900 (District 7) for youth summer camp fees at James R. Frazier Community Center; $3,000 (Districts 9 & 10) for Green Sea Floyds Recreation’s 12U softball team travel to the Dixie World Series; $14,000 (Chairman, Districts 9 & 10) for Simpson Creek Primitive Baptist Church roof repair.
- Resolution (K9 Surplus) – Unanimously passed declaring K9 Gass surplus and transferring ownership to its handler, Zachary McDermott, upon retirement.
- Executive Session – The committee briefly entered executive session to discuss negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements. No decisions or votes were taken.
- Next Meeting – Announced for October 13, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
And we have no public input. So I ask Council personal choose if she would send information please. Heavenly Father, we thank you for another beautiful day. Another opportunity to gather together as community leaders and friends. And for the freedoms that we have in this wonderful country. As we stand before you today, Father, we ask that you may bless us with wisdom, patience, and your guidance as we work together to make decisions for the betterment of our county and its residents. And we ask that you would place your hand of protection upon our first responders and those that serve each and every day to keep us safe. These things we ask in Jesus precious and the flight. I pledge all the evidence. So move. Second. We need to do one change. We need to the inmate cost update for Marcus Road. We're going to move in down to number four. All in favor? All right. All right. Approval of the minutes for June 10th, 2026. So move. Second. All in favor. Resolutions up for the fourth to the 10th, 2026 fire prevention week. Chief time. That's going to be Chief Hammond's Chief Annals will do our half of that. Morning, Chairman, Council staff. For those of you that know me, I'm just a chief animals of the professional standard, so I'll be doing this for us today. In front of you should have the proposed resolution for this year's fire prevention week, which is every year in early October. The theme this year puts a focus on lithium on batteries, which as you know, I'm sure you call us on social media. Uh we run tons of fires, plenty of those are related to think battery, you know, causes of uh working with our investigation unit, the PO chamber of operational personnel will be looking to do a campaign on this top topic to educate the public and uh hopefully work with the safe royal county. So I'm here for any questions you might have on that. All right, excellent. Well, uh thanks. We appreciate that. And then also the next thing I'll knock out is the uh fire service agreement between the county and city of Conway. So the last agreement did expire, and this is just an update contract that won't affect any operational services we provide. It's just kind of the next step when we continue those part trips. All right. Question? Yes, sir. Do we um if you if I have batteries, can I talk about a fire station and drop them off? Do you all recycle moving batteries? We can help you get to the right place to do it. Uh okay. Yeah, we can definitely help you with that at the fire station and get you in the right place. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Approving the acceptance of the 2026 local emergency management performance grant. Same morning chairman, members of the public safety committee. Respectfully request you approve the resolution authorized Lori County to accept the 2026 local emergency management performance grant uh for 87,682 dollars.
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