MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson clarified comments regarding the legal opinion his office released last Friday informing local government’s that the Governor’s executive order trumps executive ordinances put in place by municipalities. The legal opinion caused some local governments to rethink a ‘Stay at home’ order including Mount Pleasant leaders.
Mount Pleasant leaders have been considering a stay at home order for residents but ultimately decided not to adopt the ordinance last Friday at a town council meeting. During an emergency meeting, some council members pointed to the Attorney General’s legal opinion as reason not to approve the order.
“We issued an opinion that basically said during the state of emergency, the Governor’s executive order trumps local ordinances,” says South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Attorney General Wilson says the legal opinion released by his office is more of a caution light for local governments who are adopting executive ordinances.
“Our legal opinions are legal guidance,” says Wilson. “They’re not edicts, they’re not laws, they’re not executive orders, they don’t have the affect of law, they are basically our best guess of what a court would do.”
Wilson says people should follow the ordinances adopted by local governments and not ignore them.
“Those local ordinances are deemed legal and valid and people shouldn’t challenge them just because out legal opinion said they might not be legally sound down the road,” says Wilson.
Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie who has said he wants a “Stay at Home” order says “he is actively working with his staff and attorneys to decided what the next steps of action should be to best protect Mount Pleasant residents since the number of cases has gone up since schools were closed statewide.” Attorney General Alan Wilson believes local governments are tying to do what’s best for their residents.
“I think that they want to help, I think they want to be helpful and I think they are just trying to figure out the best way they can support their local communities and that’s what I think is going on here,” says Wilson.
Mount Pleasant Councilwomen Guang Ming Whitley says town council and the Mayor would be participating in a call sometime Monday afternoon to talk about possible next steps for Mount Pleasant as they have seen an increase in Coronavirus cases.
