Two Pickens County sheriff's deputies have been fired after being arrested for public intoxication outside South Carolina, according to Sheriff Tommy Blankenship. The deputies had already been placed on unpaid administrative suspension while the sheriff's office looked into the matter, and their termination followed an internal investigation into the out-of-state arrests.
Sheriff Cites Policy Violation in Firings
Blankenship announced the firings on Facebook, saying the two deputies were let go for violating agency policy, according to WYFF. The station reported that the sheriff described the arrests as happening outside South Carolina, though the evidence does not specify where or when the incidents occurred. Blankenship also said the deputies had been placed on unpaid administrative suspension while the sheriff's office completed its internal investigation.
In his statement, the sheriff framed the firings as a matter of standards for the job. Blankenship said being a deputy sheriff is more than just wearing a badge, per the same account. The station noted it reached out to the Pickens County Sheriff's Office for more information but had not received a response as of the report.
How Other Departments Have Handled Similar Cases
Pickens County is not the only agency to part ways with deputies over off-duty conduct that crossed state lines. In Virginia, Henry County Sheriff Wayne Davis fired two deputies, Christopher Michael Shaver and Homer Charles Jessee, after separate arrests outside the state, according to WSET. Shaver was arrested on July 23, 2026, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and charged with driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, while Jessee was arrested on August 15, 2026, in Eden, North Carolina, and charged with driving while impaired and assault and battery. Neither incident involved a county-owned vehicle or other county property, and the outlet noted that both criminal cases remain under the jurisdiction of the counties where the arrests occurred.
Similar terminations have played out elsewhere over the years. In Texas, Brazoria County Deputy Christopher Lofton, a two-year veteran of the department, was fired after being arrested for public intoxication in Uvalde, according to KPRC / Click2Houston. In Tennessee, the Roane County Sheriff's Office fired an unnamed deputy after an Internal Affairs investigation determined that allegations of an off-duty policy violation were true, according to WATE. Together, the cases show a pattern of sheriff's offices treating off-duty conduct that violates department policy as grounds for dismissal, even when the alleged conduct happened well outside their own jurisdiction.
