A proposed hate crime ordinance in Kershaw County stalled Tuesday night after a split vote during its first reading. The measure, which would have created a new misdemeanor charge for hate intimidation, showed up on the agenda only as a first reading in title, with no draft document in front of council members to actually debate.
Councilman Sammie Tucker Jr. made a motion on the proposal, according to WLTX, and the measure stalled after a split vote during its first reading, as reported by South Carolina Public Radio. Tucker said the idea originated with concerned citizens of Kershaw County who had petitioned the county to consider such a law. The first reading did not get the necessary backing to advance.
The proposal would have added a misdemeanor charge for hate intimidation, targeting people based on specified protected characteristics, carrying a possible $500 fine or up to 30 days in jail. The station's report notes that the measure appeared on the agenda as a first reading in title only rather than as a full document for discussion. Residents spoke both for and against the ordinance during a public hearing, per the same account.
Working on the Ordinance’s Wording
Tucker said he would work with staff and county legal counsel. Even so, council members had no draft of the ordinance in front of them to discuss at Tuesday's meeting.
Tucker planned to return with a recommendation on the proposal.
An Absent Vote That Might Have Mattered
A Councilman Did Not Participate in the Vote Councilman Jimmy Jones did not participate in the vote.
Residents expressed differing views on the ordinance.
A Statewide Patchwork With Few Pieces
Kershaw County's debate unfolds against a wider backdrop: South Carolina is one of only two states in the country without a statewide hate crime law, according to South Carolina Public Radio. The Municipal Association of South Carolina confirms the state has not yet enacted statewide hate crimes legislation, even though such a bill passed the South Carolina House during both the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 legislative sessions. The Senate has chosen not to give the bill consideration either time, the association notes.
In the absence of state action, a handful of local governments have moved on their own. Richland County has a hate crime ordinance. Richland's law makes hate intimidation a misdemeanor punishable by the same $500 fine or up to 30 days in jail now proposed for Kershaw County, and it penalizes targeting someone for their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender and identity, or disabilities. As of Tuesday's meeting, a hate crime ordinance is in effect in only two South Carolina counties: Richland and Orangeburg, according to WIS-TV's follow-up coverage.
Councilman Tucker first placed the hate crime discussion on Kershaw County's agenda back in September, citing widespread interest in the topic among residents, per WIS-TV. Whether that interest translates into a revised ordinance remains an open question, one that will likely depend on which council members, if any, decide to take up the issue again.
