Lawyer who defended Cayce mayor in misconduct probe hired as its city attorney
The city of Cayce hired James Smith, the attorney who represented its mayor during a council-led misconduct investigation in October, as its new city attorney.
Hiring Smith, who was the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor, came less than a month after the city’s November election, which saw two new faces elected to the five-person city council. It also came after months of tension on the council and turnover at some of the city’s top administrative roles.
The city council voted Tuesday night 3-2 to appoint Smith as its attorney. Councilman Byron Thomas and Mayor Pro Tem Phil Carter voted against the appointment, while Mayor Elise Partin, Councilwoman Alice Rose and Councilwoman Tiffany Aull voted in favor. Most of the council’s discussion about Smith’s appointment happened in a closed-door executive session that lasted over an hour and a half.
“I thank you for wanting to handle this position,” Thomas said to Smith ahead of the vote. “I’ll be a ‘no,’ not because of you, I have so much respect for you. I just wish the options were different and how I felt about transparency and some things.”
Multiple candidates were considered for the role, a city spokesperson told The State. With positions like police chief, the city will typically hire a committee to interview candidates and rank them using scoring sheets. However, the hiring of both the city manager and city attorney is entirely at the discretion of the council.
Will Dillard, the city’s previous attorney, who was hired by council in January, told the city of his plans to resign from his role following the election after less than a year with Cayce. Dillard, who also works for the city of Forest Acres, was hired after longtime attorney Danny Crowe left.
In November, voters chose Aull, a longtime educator, to replace the District 1 seat left vacant by former Mayor Pro Tem Tim James and Rose, a political newcomer and stay-at-home mom, over incumbent Hunter Sox for the District 3 seat after James, Sox, Thomas and Carter hired an independent attorney to investigate a complaint from the city clerk against Partin. That came months after former city manager Jim Crosland accused Partin of overreach and councilmembers of not communicating with each other in a letter obtained by The State.
The city also announced the hiring of a new assistant city manager Tuesday, promoting former Utilities Director Betsy Catchings to the role.
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
