Richland County sheriff to face challenger in 2016

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott will face a challenger in next year’s primary election for the first time since 2008.

James Flowers, a former South Carolina Law Enforcement Division senior special agent who was once a Gamecock defensive lineman, announced Wednesday he will run as a Democrat in 2016.

“I am running as a candidate that will bring law enforcement and the community together and make Richland County a safer place for everyone,” Flowers said. “People want safer streets, schools and neighborhoods, and they expect law enforcement officers to provide that safe environment. I understand that expectation, and I want to be a transformative leader for Richland County and the sheriff’s department.”

Meanwhile, Lott will seek a sixth term in office.

“I still feel like I’ve got the ability to lead the Richland County Sheriff’s Department to be the best that it can be,” Lott said. “And, to do that, it takes us working together with all citizens of Richland County.”

Lott ran unopposed in 2012 and defeated primary challenger Jim Reed in 2008. The sheriff ran unopposed in 2004, and faced a Republican opponent in 2000, who quit before election day because of health concerns. Lott was first elected in 1996, defeating two-term Republican Allen Sloan.

“The beauty of being an elected sheriff is the people get to judge you by their vote,” Lott said. “It’s their report card on you. If you and your departments get As, you get elected. If you get Fs, someone else gets elected. Election time is the time for people to speak. That’s when their voice gets heard and gets heard the loudest, through the ballot box.”

The sheriff emphasized the importance of maintaining good relationships with people in the community, and said crime prevention, rather than the number of arrests made, should be the measure of the department’s success.

Flowers said, though he has issues with how things have been run in the sheriff’s department, he doesn’t want to focus on that. Rather, he said he aims to focus on the positive things about his own campaign.

“I’m going to change the culture of law enforcement to serve and protect all citizens regardless of race or income,” Flowers said. “I want to build a department that is transparent and honest and up front with people and is diverse and looks like the community it serves.”

This is the first time he has run for elected office, he said.

Flowers began his career in law enforcement with the S.C. Probation, Parole and Pardon Services as a probation and parole agent, according to his election website. He later became the community policing coordinator for the probation and parole agency, and also served as captain of the Special Operations Response Team.

After leaving that agency, Flowers became a homeland security planner at SLED, according to his website. He then moved into criminal investigations, where he investigated crimes such as officer-involved shootings and governmental corruption.

Flowers served as a member of the agency’s SWAT Team as well as the FBI Violent Crime Task Force. He also was assigned to U.S. Secret Service protection details for presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Flowers stepped down from SLED recently to run for sheriff.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Richland County sheriff to face challenger in 2016."