Meadors will be on November ballot for Richland prosecutor

Columbia attorney John Meadors has qualified to run as an independent candidate for 5th Circuit solicitor in the Nov. 6 general election, according to the S.C. Election Commission.

Meadors will face Columbia attorney Byron Gipson, who beat two-term incumbent Dan Johnson in the June Democratic primary. Johnson was felled by a scandal over his office’s spending that now is the subject of a law enforcement investigation.

To qualify as a petition candidate and get his name on November’s ballot, Meadors had to collect at least 10,000 signatures.

The 5th Circuit solicitor is the chief criminal prosecutor in Richland and Kershaw counties. He oversees roughly 45 prosecuting attorneys in both counties. The solicitor’s office has a budget of about $10 million a year.

This story was originally published August 9, 2018 at 5:56 PM.