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Sheriff reacts after investigation into his son’s employment

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An Upstate sheriff is being investigated for a possible ethics violation for hiring his own son. According to independent government watchdog Kyle Joslin, accountability was the goal behind an ethics complaint he filed with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. He is suspicious of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department’s recent hiring of Andy Wright, the son of current Sheriff Chuck Wright. “I found that quite disturbing because the state’s ethics laws say you can’t hire immediate family members.” He received this response from the Ethics Commission: “The complaint contained sufficient facts to warrant an investigation.” The Ethics Commission said it would not comment on the investigation, citing South Carolina law. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright denies wrongdoing and claims he took steps to avoid an ethics violation, including a letter he allegedly sent to hiring managers stating he would have no influence over his son’s job and day-to-day operations. “I know it’s not OK for me to do something special for him. And I didn’t. And the guy who does all the hiring, I told him, and Andy would submit his application, I said don’t treat him any different. Got a letter saying that,” he says. He says the position his son was hired for doesn’t report directly to the sheriff. “If my son violated a policy, that goes directly to the deputy chief. I’m usually the one they go to. But in this case, I got a directive. It says it won’t be referred to me at all. The investigative missions are done by the captains, not me. I didn’t give him any special rank. I didn’t assign him any special position,” Wright says. Wright tells us he will follow any recommendations or findings of the commission’s investigation. “He’s not taking anyone’s position. He’s not looking to take anyone out of a promotion. He’s only promoted to vice chairman, you know, he can’t even be deputy 1st class. He’s only working part time. He doesn’t meet the requirements for any of that,” Wright says. As a reminder, this is an active investigation. We’ll continue to look for updates and provide them to you as they become available.

An upstate sheriff is under investigation for a possible ethics violation because he hired his own son.

According to independent government watchdog Kyle Joslin, accountability was the target of an ethics complaint he filed with the South Carolina Ethics Commission over suspicions surrounding the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department’s recent hiring of Andy Wright, the son of current Sheriff Chuck Wright.

“I found this quite concerning because the state’s ethics laws say you can’t hire immediate family members.”

He received the following response from the Ethics Commission: “The complaint contained sufficient facts to warrant an investigation.” The Ethics Commission said it would not comment on the investigation, citing South Carolina law.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright denies any wrongdoing and claims he took steps to avoid an ethics violation, including allegedly sending a letter to human resources managers stating he would have no influence over his son’s work and daily operations.

“I know it’s not OK for me to do something special for him. And I didn’t. And I told the guy who does all the hiring, and Andy was going to submit his application. I told him not to treat him any differently. I got a letter saying that,” he says.

He says the position his son was hired for does not report directly to the sheriff.

“If my son violated a policy, it goes directly to the deputy chief of police. I’m usually the one they go to. But in this case, I got an order saying that the matter will not be referred to me at all. The investigative missions are conducted by the captains, not me. I didn’t give him any special rank. I didn’t assign him any special position,” Wright says.

Wright tells us that he will follow all recommendations and findings of the Commission’s investigation.

“He’s not taking anyone’s position. He doesn’t like anyone getting a promotion. He’s only promoted to deputy, you know, he can’t even be deputy first class. He’s only part-time. He’s not qualified for any of that,” Wright says.

As a reminder, this is an active investigation. We will continue to check for updates and provide you with them as they become available.

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