Bolton: Was former Lexington County, SC, sheriff’s immense power his undoing?
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
English historian Lord Acton
WHILE MANY people overuse the words of Lord Acton, it’s hard not to wonder if the immense power that former Lexington County Sheriff James Metts enjoyed played a role in his fall from grace.
Mr. Metts certainly saw his power increase over his 42 years as sheriff.
I always found him likable, a credible lawman, a strong advocate for Lexington County, and one who was extremely proud of what he had accomplished as sheriff.
He didn’t mind tooting his own horn. In the 2008 primary, he arrived at our offices for an endorsement interview carrying a notebook that included 63 pages detailing his department’s accomplishments from the past four years. It chronicled the awards he and deputies had received as well as honors bestowed on the department. It hailed the dedication of the James R. Metts Law Enforcement Complex and the James R. Metts Landing.
But for all the good he did — and he did lots of it — somewhere along the way, the man who became the country’s youngest sheriff at age 25 and built a little-respected department into a strong, award-winning force got off course. His career ended last month when he resigned and pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants.
Did the authority and influence Mr. Metts had gathered, coupled with a lack of a check on his power, create an environment in which he saw right even in his wrong?
At one point, the sheriff’s areas of responsibility covered more than half the county budget and half its workforce.
The duties he inherited as the elected sheriff called for Mr. Metts to run the sheriff’s department — where he hired and fired at will — and manage the jail. Those duties alone cover more than a third of the county budget and workforce.
In 2003, the County Council made the sheriff director of homeland security, overseeing all public safety departments, including EMS and fire. Mr. Metts would hire an assistant sheriff to help.
The assistant sheriff’s post was so significant that when it became vacant in 2005, Bruce Rucker, the chairman and longest-serving member of Lexington County Council at the time, resigned his seat to take the job, whose duties included setting policy and coordinating Lexington law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services.
The council gave the sheriff other nontraditional duties as well, such as temporarily overseeing the Pelion airport. He once said council members asked him to take on extra duties because of their trust and confidence in him.
Despite that trust, there was a time when Mr. Metts and the council would battle almost annually over his pursuit of more money and autonomy.
In 1995, Mr. Metts sought a 78 percent budget increase. He didn’t get it, but he did land a big prize: unprecedented budgetary freedom. The council gave the sheriff funds for law enforcement and jail operations as a lump sum. That gave Mr. Metts the ability, if he wanted, to reduce the number of jail guards and use that money to hire more deputies.
Over time, Mr. Metts became a “super sheriff” whose power, if not absolute, certainly was unchecked.
The sheriff had his challenges, at least one of which suggests in retrospect that his arrogance was increasing as his power was increasing.
I’m not talking about the normal challenges sheriffs have, although he had his share of those, including suicides and overcrowding at the jail. I’m not even talking about the disclosure that law officials at the sheriff’s offices made a videotape of a private conversation between a murder suspect and the suspect’s lawyer.
That angry exchange Mr. Metts had during a public discussion in 2003 about the relationship between his deputies and Batesburg-Leesville police? He would apologize for that. He said he got “a little bit arrogant” and said things he shouldn’t have, but denied reports he made a lewd gesture.
What I’m thinking most about is serious concerns that Mr. Metts might be using his oversight of the jail for personal gain. Legitimate questions were raised about the sheriff working as a consultant for a company that operated a collect-call phone system in the county jail. Mr. Metts declared that he had done nothing improper, and state ethics officials agreed, saying he could have private business contracts but couldn’t take action on an agreement that involved a business he had a personal interest in. Mr. Metts had approved a five-year extension of the phone contract in 1993 but didn’t begin working with the company until 1994.
While it might not have violated the law, it wasn’t right. Instead of immediately ending the relationship, Mr. Metts sought to explain why it was OK. So did some council members.
During his 2008 newspaper visit, Mr. Metts said he no longer had any consulting jobs and that concerns about that or any additional authority extended to him by County Council were unfounded.
Were they?
Reach Mr. Bolton at (803) 771-8631 or wbolton@thestate.com.
This story was originally published January 17, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Bolton: Was former Lexington County, SC, sheriff’s immense power his undoing?."