Mount Pleasant leaders gathered Monday evening to consider a proposed ordinance that would require charter boat captains to carry proof of a business license and specific insurance coverage, a move supporters say is overdue after a young man drowned during what they describe as an illegal charter trip. The 6 p.m. Town Council meeting was set to include a vote on the measure, known as Ordinance No. 26059, which would also insert local officers into an enforcement space typically left to federal and state agencies.
The proposal targets operators who take paying passengers onto the water without proper licensing or sufficient liability insurance, according to WCIV. Under the ordinance, charter captains would need to show proof of a business license, carry liability insurance of no less than $1 million, and maintain $500,000 in property damage coverage. The station reports the measure is explicitly aimed at cracking down on illegal charter operations while adding local enforcement to oversight that has traditionally belonged to federal and state agencies.
Supporters pointed to the death of JJ Broughton, who was on an illegal charter when he fell off the boat and drowned, as a driving force behind the push for change. The station notes the investigation into his death remains ongoing. Gedney Howe IV, the attorney representing Broughton's family, said the legislation could help local officers more easily check whether charter operators are properly licensed.
A Local Hotspot for Unlicensed Captains
The push for tighter rules has been building for weeks. A town committee recommended expanding the law to require boat charters to obtain a Mount Pleasant business license and maintain a liability insurance policy, according to The Post and Courier. Under that recommendation, a charter captain would be mandated to carry their business license with them so it's readily available for inspection if needed.
Mount Pleasant Staff Attorney Brent Leary told a town committee on Oct. 5 that Shem Creek in particular is a hotspot where unlicensed captains launch. The newspaper's reporting also notes that Mount Pleasant Town Council had already taken up a broader set of proposed changes to town laws governing public boat landings, docks and charter vessels on Oct. 13, laying groundwork for Monday's vote.
Coast Guard Enforcement Already Underway
Federal authorities have been active on the same waterways even as the town considers its own rules. Coast Guard Sector Charleston cited a charter vessel for carrying more passengers than it was permitted for in July, and stopped the voyage of another in September after discovering the vessel had no valid state registration, per the same Post and Courier report. More broadly, Coast Guard crews have stopped over 100 illegal charters across the Southeast since the start of 2026, the outlet notes.
The numbers behind the push for stricter oversight paint a troubling picture statewide. South Carolina recorded 22 recreational boating fatalities in 2022, up from 15 in 2018, and 170 boating accidents that year compared with 142 in 2018, according to SCDNR statistics cited by The State. The outlet also reports more than 360,000 recreational motorboats and personal watercraft are currently registered in South Carolina.
A Deadly Pattern on the Water
U.S. Coast Guard data from 2020 through 2024 show an average of 20 people a year die in recreational boating incidents across South Carolina, according to a Post and Courier editorial. This year alone, eight people have died in boating-related incidents across the state, according to a separate report from WCIV, which noted SCDNR's continued calls for life jackets and sober boating.
Whether Mount Pleasant's Town Council ultimately adopted, amended, or rejected Ordinance No. 26059 during Monday's meeting has not been established. What is clear is that the proposal arrives amid mounting scrutiny of unlicensed charter operations along the Lowcountry coast, with federal, state, and now potentially local authorities all weighing in on how to keep passengers safe on the water.
