Horry County Public Safety Committee Meeting – October 13, 2026

The Horry County Public Safety Committee convened on October 13, 2026, at 16:00 UTC to take public comment on animal welfare, approve routine consent items, and receive presentations on ALPR transparency, gang/fugitive enforcement, fire-rescue staffing and accreditation, and homeless services. No written minutes were available; this summary is based on the raw transcript.

Consent Calendar

• The committee approved the minutes of the August Level 2 meeting.
• Approved a resolution declaring a service weapon surplus for retiring Sergeant Kathy Thompson, who served with the department for more than 25 years.
• Approved a $70,000 grant for the veterans treatment court to hire a case manager, at no cost to the county and with no county obligation to continue the position after the grant ends.
• Approved use of existing FY27 fire fund appropriations to add three leadership positions—two fire lieutenants and one fire captain—for Gore Town Fire Station under the SAFER grant. The request is $231,490 and does not change the budget.
• Approved community grants: $1,500 from District 9 for community volunteers providing supplies to the elderly, sick, and children; $1,500 from District 11 for Aynor High School FFA travel to the National Convention; $4,000 combined from Districts 4, 6, 8 and the Chairman for American Legion Post 40, including support for Palmetto Boys/Girls State, exterior maintenance, and Normore House’s homeless-veterans mission; $2,500 from District 7 for Conway High School Education Foundation teacher grants; and $2,500 from District 7 for the Grand Strand Down Syndrome Society to support family engagement, educational outreach, and essential resources.
• Consent items were approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Carol Wallower, an animal advocate, said Horry County should take comprehensive action on animal overpopulation. She stated that approved animal welfare ordinances from 2020–2021 still contain conflicting temperature requirements in Sections 431C and 431D 2D; both were supposed to be 85 degrees. She proposed changing Section 431C to a maximum of 80 degrees, the other section given as 431B in the transcript to 50 degrees, and Section 4.13 on animals left in vehicles from 70 to 50 degrees. She advocated a temporary breeding moratorium or restriction of 3–5 years, higher fees for licensed breeders, a one-litter-per-year-per-location limit, stronger penalties for backyard breeding, and directing revenue to animal control, spay/neuter programs, education, outreach, and additional officers. She also asked the county to revisit the mobile vet clinic and consider a secondary vet to support countywide spay/neuter efforts. She said the county cannot adopt or build its way out of the crisis and needs prevention-focused solutions.
• Donna Kidd, a Green Sea resident and animal advocate, said Horry County faces an animal overpopulation crisis and proposed starting with pet licensing and data collection. She cited 3.2% annual county population growth, the ability of feral dogs and cats to produce up to 20 puppies or kittens a year, an estimated 140,000 feral cats in Horry County, the “vacuum effect” that draws new animals into unsterilized areas, and a September 2026 Conway rabies case involving one feral cat that potentially affected two adults, two cats, one dog, and 40 other colony cats. She said Horry County Animal Care Center, Grand Strand Humane Society, and North Myrtle Beach Humane Society are at least 200% over capacity, with Horry County Animal Care Center over 300%. She proposed a $15 license fee for spayed/neutered pets, equal to $1.25 per month, a $25 fee for unaltered pets, late fees, and a current rabies vaccination requirement. Using 211,868 housing units and a 1.6 animals-per-household state average, she estimated more than $5 million in annual revenue. She also suggested using police animal-related calls—872 in January 2026—to begin building a pet data inventory and using the revenue for free rabies clinics, mobile veterinary care, and low-cost or free spay/neuter services. She provided copies of her figures to the committee.

Discussion Items

• Flock ALPR transparency portal: Staff presented a planned online portal showing how the county uses Flock automatic license plate reader cameras. It would include the number of cameras, data retention policies, activity counts, search counts, hot-list hits for stolen or warrant vehicles, access policies, and a myth-versus-fact Q&A. The stated goal is public transparency, accountability, and community trust while protecting active investigations and sensitive operational details. Committee members voiced support, with one noting SCDOT has used highway cameras for years and public expectation of privacy is limited; another called ALPRs a necessary and excellent law-enforcement tool.
• Gang/Fugitive Apprehension Unit update: Since January of this year, the unit made 95 arrests, including 22 fugitive arrests; 19 of those arrested are identified so far as gang-related, with review continuing. Of the 95, 81 were county offenders who lived in Horry County and committed crimes there, while the remainder came from other locations and involved assistance to other agencies. Committee members thanked the unit for a recent large roundup and noted the media coverage of the number of partner agencies involved.
• Horry County Fire Rescue CAS accreditation: HCFR announced it has become nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, referred to as CAS in the transcript, after a two-and-a-half-year project. Of approximately 23,000 licensed EMS agencies in the U.S., fewer than 200 have earned this accreditation—less than 1%. Chief Gilden added that HCFR was evaluated against about 148 competencies and found zero discrepancies.
• HCFR overtime and staffing overview: The department outlined minimum daily staffing of 21 engines, 5 ladders, 2 rescues, 1 hazmat unit, 30 ambulances, 2 QRVs, 4 battalion chiefs, 2 medical officers, and 2 safety officers. It attributed overtime to three-person staffing standards, vacancies, military leave, FMLA, sick and annual leave, recruit school, and special events. HCFR ran well over 10,000–11,000 fire calls last year and averages 13–16 structure fires per week. There were 105 personnel unavailable for staffing, including 36 operational vacancies and 57 in recruit school; the department has a 10% vacancy rate. It reported more than 260 special events in FY26, an increase of more than 100 over the prior year, and said special-event costs exceed revenue. Plans include adjusting the special events fee structure to recover costs, recruiting more certified personnel, reducing the recruit academy by 3–4 weeks, creating acting company officer positions, and using overtime funding to hire additional coverage personnel. A class of 57 is scheduled to graduate November 12, adding about 8 people per day to field staffing; 15 recruits start October 19, 10 with Firefighter I/EMT credentials and 5 EMT-only.
• New Directions of Horry County: Executive Director William Hauser said the organization is at 88% capacity across men’s, women’s, and family shelters, and also runs an overnight emergency men’s shelter. He emphasized the organization’s broader housing-specialization services, including case management, counseling, mental health treatment, substance use treatment funding, and transportation. In the first quarter of this fiscal year it spent $25,000 to transport individuals back to family or support systems. He said providers such as Normore House coordinate closely to serve homeless individuals and veterans.

Key Outcomes

• Approved all consent and approval items by voice vote.
• HCFR will return to the next public safety meeting with a special events fee structure proposal intended to recover costs or break even.
• The committee took no formal action on the Flock portal, gang/fugitive update, or New Directions presentation; these were informational.
• No executive session was held. The next meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2026, on a one-month interval.