The South Carolina Supreme Court will soon decide if a sheriff elected in 2016 is qualified to serve.
McCormick County Sheriff Clarke Stearns and his challenger have both filed briefs with justices. A date for possible oral arguments has not been set.
The lawyer for challenger J.R. Jones, Charles Grose, told The Index-Journal of Greenwood the Supreme Court has expedited the case.
Stearns, a Republican, beat the Democrat Jones by 57 percent to 40 percent in the election.
But Jones protested, saying Stearns never served as a law officer in South Carolina and therefore didn’t meet the requirement of being a certified officer in the state.
Stearns lawyers say he was certified in Virginia where he worked for 30 years and earned certification in South Carolina after his election.
