How much did Lexington sheriff spend on travel in 2025? Here are the numbers.
In 2025, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department spent $205,956 on travel for conferences and training for its 450 employees.
That number included more than $23,000 for travel and conferences for the department’s 17 lieutenants, nearly $6,500 for its captains and majors and around $8,500 for the county’s Sheriff Bryan “Jay” Koon.
Koon, who has served as the county’s sheriff since 2015, took six trips for various conferences and training throughout the year. Three trips were out of state — one in Baltimore, Maryland, one in Denver, Colorado and another in Jacksonville, Florida — while the other three were in state.
“Some meetings and conferences are required to maintain the department’s accreditation,” Adam Myrick, the sheriff department’s spokesman, told The State in an email. Myrick also noted that conferences are helpful for networking with lawmakers and leaders of state and federal law enforcement agencies.
“These relationships pay dividends as we work cases and handle other matters together,” Myrick wrote.
The State requested travel expense documents from the sheriff’s department through a Freedom of Information Act request. South Carolina’s public records law allows agencies to charge for the search and replication of documents. For the records, the sheriff’s department charged The State $49.50. The documents provide details on the conferences Koon attended and the amount of money spent on things like airfare and hotels.
The sheriff spent $8,533.88 on travel in 2025, according to Myrick. Here are the details of his spending:
- $598.58 for a four-day S.C. Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates conference in Myrtle Beach in late February that featured training and networking. Registration for the conference cost $200 and a three-night stay at a Myrtle Beach Marriott was $95 a night, including tax, along with $112.50 in per diem costs (incidental expenses like parking and meals).
- $1,154.10 for the four-day South Carolina Sheriff’s Association conference in Myrtle Beach in July. Koon used the county vehicle and paid $1,086 for four nights at a hotel.
- $2,311.80 for a six-day conference in Baltimore, M.D in August. The registration fee for the FBI National Academy Associates National Annual Training Conference was $695. Five nights at a hotel at a rate of $210 a night cost $1,051.65 and the airfare to get to Baltimore was $330.65. Koon also logged $164.50 in per diem expenses.
- $206.01 for an overnight stay in Greer, S.C. for an S.C. Sheriff’s Association business meeting in September. The total cost was encompassed by the hotel stay at a Hampton Inn in Greer.
- $2,352.35 for a six-day conference in Denver, Colorado in October. Registration fees for the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference cost $500, a five-night stay at a Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Colorado cost $1,152.88 and airfare cost $176.97. The sheriff also expensed $100 for a taxi, $100 for parking at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and $75 in checked bag fees.
- $1,212.95 for a four-day conference in Jacksonville, Florida in November. Koon drove a county vehicle instead of taking a flight and spent $777.45 for three nights at a Hyatt Regency. The registration fee for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies conference was $300 and Koon spent $135 in per diem expenses.
The State reached out to both the York County sheriff’s department and the Spartanburg County sheriff’s department – two similarly-sized sheriff’s departments – to request the amount their departments spent on travel and conferences.
The Spartanburg sheriff’s office was allocated $100,000 this fiscal year for outside training, including travel, accommodations and registration fees, spokesman Graham McLellan told The State in an email. The York County sheriff’s department set aside $267,096 for training this fiscal year, according to spokesman Trent Faris.
