‘No confidence’: S.C. House votes to fire Public Safety chief Smith

The S.C. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to fire the director of the Department of Public Safety.

The proposal by House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, passed on a 76-20 vote. It eliminates funding for the director position of the Department of Public Safety in the state’s roughly $8 billion budget.

Because Gov. Henry McMaster is the only one who can directly fire the agency’s director, the proposed amendment would eliminate the position and pay. Leroy Smith, who was appointed by then-Gov. Nikki Haley in 2012, currently holds that position.

House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, said that because neither chamber hires cabinet agency heads, a vote like Tuesday’s is how the chamber expresses disapproval.

“As a legislative body, we speak with dollars,” Simrill said. “That is basically a vote of no confidence in Director Smith as DPS head.”

Even if the proposal passes both chambers, McMaster can still veto the effort. Brian Symmes, McMaster’s spokesman, said Tuesday that McMaster “is supportive of Director Smith.”

Rutherford said he introduced the amendment after relaying concerns to Smith and McMaster’s staff about low trooper morale, high turnover rates and an increase in road fatalities during Smith’s tenure.

Rutherford said that when Smith’s “behavior” was challenged in the past, Smith said troopers and other legislators had a problem with him because of his race. Rutherford said Smith, who is African-American, expressed the same sentiment earlier this year before the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus.

“And so I went and looked into that,” Rutherford said. “As I delved down into the details and looked at the data, it was clear that (Smith) is the problem.”

Rutherford serves on the House’s Legislative Oversight Panel, which is in charge of looking at the police agency’s policies and books. DPS includes the S.C. Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Protective Services, the State Transport Police and the state’s Immigration Enforcement Unit.

Smith later issued a statement saying he was disappointed to hear about the vote.

“I, along with other dedicated employees at the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, work very hard to make South Carolina a safe place for its residents and visitors,” Smith said. “As always, I look forward to continue working with legislators and other local and state partners on enhancing public safety in the great state of South Carolina.”

Smith has also previously said that DPS conducted its own internal survey of morale and job satisfaction, and it revealed morale for the entire department was at 3 on a scale where 4 was the highest.

Yet, among other issues raised by lawmakers, Rutherford said that under Smith’s tenure 2016 data showed the state is expected to have the highest number of road fatalities since 2007.

In July, The State newspaper reported that South Carolina’s roads were twice as deadly in 2015 as those in the rest of the country. In Richland County, traffic fatalities were up more than 50 percent in 2016.

But Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said it was disingenuous for the Legislature to blame Smith for the agency’s ills when the General Assembly has not budgeted enough money for years to send enough new trooper recruits to the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy in a timely manner.

Cobb-Hunter, who was among the 20 who voted against the bill, said she understood House members were hoping to make a point with the amendment. But she said she hoped the Senate kills the effort when the budget reaches that chamber.

“What you saw in there today was a culmination of years of frustration because Director Smith has failed to just do what legislators want him to do when it comes to disciplining officers, when it comes to promotions, when it comes to hiring officers,” Cobb-Hunter said. “But I would suggest to you that they made a point at the risk of disparaging a man’s character, his reputation, and quite frankly, I just don’t think that’s right.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 11:36 AM with the headline "‘No confidence’: S.C. House votes to fire Public Safety chief Smith."