New boss sworn in at scandal-torn SC solicitor’s office

The scandal-plagued office of chief prosecutor for the Midlands got a fresh start Friday as Heather Weiss took the oath of office as interim solicitor in a Richland County courtroom packed with well-wishers.

“My job here is to serve you, to do whatever I can to make this a fun place to come to work, a place where you want to come and serve the people of Richland and Kershaw counties and do justice,” Weiss told onlookers after being sworn in by Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning.

Weiss, 43, a deputy state attorney general on leave of absence, will be interim solicitor until early January when the winner of the Nov. 6 election for solicitor is sworn in for a four-year term. Two Columbia lawyers are running for the post — Byron Gipson and John Meadors.

Weiss was named solicitor Wednesday by Gov. Henry McMaster, who suspended Democrat Dan Johnson from the post. Johnson and a former top aide, Nicole Holland, were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on fraud charges. Thursday, Johnson and Holland were indicted again on embezzlement charges, this time by the state grand jury.

Asked for advice he would give Weiss, veteran 3rd Circuit Solicitor Chip Finney III, who was in the audience, offered a few words: “The best thing I could tell her is the part in the Bible where it says, ‘Love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with your God.’ ”

In his remarks to the audience, Judge Manning alluded to the Johnson scandal, which has kept the solicitor’s office in the news with report after report of tens of thousands of dollars of office money spent on personal expenses, including Johnson’s extensive out-of-office travel.

“It’s not easy to sail into a storm, but we have the right person captaining the ship here in the 5th Circuit at least for the next several months,” Manning said.

There are 16 solicitors in South Carolina, one for each judicial circuit. The chief prosecutor in each circuit has a large staff, a multi-million-dollar budget and exercises great control over nearly all criminal cases in the area.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 1:59 PM.