Columbia lawyer files to run as petition candidate for 5th Circuit solicitor

It looks like there may be a race for the 5th Circuit solicitor’s post after all.

Just before Monday’s noon deadline for petition candidates, Columbia attorney John Meadors submitted 13,461 signatures to the State Election Commission in downtown Columbia to run for the post. Meadors, who started his petition drive in April, needed 10,000 signatures as a first step in getting on the November ballot.

If the signatures are verified by the Kershaw and Richland election boards, Meadors, 56, will appear on the November general election ballot running against Columbia attorney Byron Gipson.

Gipson, 46, won the June Democratic primary against eight-year incumbent Dan Johnson, whose office has been plagued by allegations of financial misconduct and sexual harassment of female lawyers. Gipson won 30,809 votes to Johnson’s 11,390.

The FBI is investigating Johnson, but no charges have been filed.

The 5th Circuit solicitor is the chief law enforcement official in Richland and Kershaw counties. The office’s 40-plus attorneys prosecute nearly all criminal cases in those counties, from murders to drunk driving cases. The job pays $141,300 a year.

Meadors spent more than 20 years as a prosecutor with the 5th Circuit solicitor’s office, working his way up from assistant solicitor to deputy solicitor. He worked under three solicitors — the late Jim Anders, as well as Dick Harpootlian and Barney Giese, both now in private practice.

Meadors also worked about five years as a S.C. assistant attorney general and was a special assistant U.S. attorney.

In 2010, Meadors ran for the solicitor’s job in a three-man race but lost to Johnson in a runoff in the Democratic primary.

The Kershaw and Richland election boards have until Aug. 15 to verify the signatures.

On the ballot, Meadors will be identified as a petition candidate with no party affiliation.

Gipson said Monday that he had planned on Meadors being in the race.

“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” said Gipson. “That means making sure people understand what we stand for. And in the primary, they spoke about the change that they wanted.”

In the primary, Gipson made restoring integrity to the solicitor’s office his main theme.

Columbia attorney John Crangle, a longtime public policy ethics expert, said Meadors is entering the race late. But, he added, “People will have a choice of two candidates. Otherwise, they’d only have one.”

This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 12:51 PM.