2025: A Year of Local Voices Making Lasting Impact

Member for

11 months 2 weeks
December 30, 2025

This year was a milestone for our Association and all county governments as we celebrated 50 years of the Home Rule Act. 

SCAC was founded to advocate for Home Rule, and a half a century later our collective voices continue making a difference for all 46 counties. 

Through advocacy, education and collaboration, we achieved outstanding results this year including the following highlights:


 

Advocate for County Government

During the 2025 session of the SC General Assembly, SCAC worked with legislative leaders to ensure:

  • Full funding to the Local Government Fund with an increase of over $14.5 million.
  • Legislation addressing financial challenges counties face regarding waste tire disposal and management. Act 33 increases tipping fees a county may charge for recycling and disposal of undocumented waste tires to $400 per ton (with an ordinance in place). This law represents collective efforts from SCAC, the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance and other stakeholders over several years.  
  • A cleanup to the Law Enforcement/Judicial Privacy Protection Act, which restricts personal contact information of active and former law enforcement and judicial officers from being disclosed on a state or local government website if the officer files a formal request. The requestor must specify which documents contain their personal information.  
  • Passage of Act 67, which updates the number of litter control officers a county may have based on the most recent census data.
    Educate and Build Knowledge

Educate and Build Knowledge

  • The Institute of Government for County Officials had 533 registrations representing 340 officials from 46 counties including:
    32 Level I graduates
    42 Level II graduates
  • 13 counties presented projects at the annual J. Mitchell Graham and Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Awards competition.
  • 55 officials attended SCAC’s inaugural Orientation for Newly Elected Countywide Officials in March.
  • 19 policy issues researched to inform county and state leaders.
  • 13 scholarships worth $5,000 each were awarded to graduating high school seniors.
  • SCAC convened County Finance Roundtables resulting in online resources for navigating workforce and financial management challenges. 
     

Collaborate to Assist Counties as Stewards of Public Resources

  • The SC Counties Property and Liability Trust added two counties this year—Georgetown and Oconee.
  • More than 60 participants took part in the annual SC Counties Insurance Trusts Membership Meeting, where 21 counties received safety awards.
  • Our Home Rule Anniversary video received a state communications award.