Gov. Henry McMaster has tapped Jake Gadsden Jr. to lead the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services.
Gadsden, a North Charleston native, currently serves as deputy director for programs, reentry and rehabilitative services for the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC). According to the SCDC website, he joined the agency in 2019 as a warden after almost 30 years of corrections’ experience in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
A resident of Chapin, Gadsden holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina and completed a management training program at the Harvard University School of Government.
“I am so grateful for this opportunity,” Gadsden said in a statement. “Like SCDC, the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services is often overlooked, but the work is just as important. We are all trying to do the same thing by helping these individuals rebuild and letting their families have a better life.”
State auditor resigns amid scandal, federal probe
A second high-ranking state official has resigned amid a multibillion dollar accounting scandal that’s drawn the ire of state legislators and the attention of federal investigators.
State Auditor George Kennedy submitted his resignation Jan. 23 in a letter to the state’s fiscal oversight board, chaired by Gov. Henry McMaster.
“It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve the State of South Carolina during the past nine years,” Kennedy wrote. “However, I believe that it is in the best interest of the Office of the State Auditor that I resign from my position as State Auditor effective today.”
The move comes after an outside forensic accounting firm reported on Jan. 15 that Kennedy, state Treasurer Curtis Loftis and former state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, who resigned last March, each bore some responsibility for more than $5 billion in mismanaged and misstated funds.
Federal investigators with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are now probing whether those errors misled investors about the state’s fiscal condition.
For his part, Loftis, who previously announced he was not running for reelection next year, chose not to address the larger questions raised by the resignation. Loftis continues to face calls to resign.
“I would like to thank George Kennedy for his 10 years of public service to the state of South Carolina and wish him well,” Loftis said in a statement. “We will continue to support the State Auditor’s Office during this transition.”
Lawmakers are considering several proposals to reform the state’s fiscal management system and are expected to move forward with legislation before the current session ends in May.
In other recent news
S.C. taxpayers’ cost of fixing $1.8B accounting blunder could keep growing. A Senate budget committee wants to repurpose $1.2 million from the current state budget to hire an outside financial supervisor in an effort to stave off sanctions from the Securities Exchange Commission, which for the past year has been investigating the state’s financial agencies.
Bill requiring lab-grown food to be clearly labeled advances in S.C. A bill mandating the clear labeling of lab-grown food sold in South Carolina advanced Thursday to the Senate floor.
S.C. Senate sees a new portrait. Senators unveiled a new portrait of former Democratic S.C. Sen. Nikki Setzler of Lexington County on Wednesday. Setzler served in the Senate for 48 years before retiring in 2024.
Santee Cooper looking for buyers to restart failed nuclear project. The state-owned utility is soliciting proposals from private companies to take over the partially-built V.C. Summer reactors that were abandoned in 2017 at a cost of $9 billion to ratepayers.
S.C. power cooperatives approved for $500M in clean energy funds. South Carolina’s power cooperatives received $500 million in federal grants and zero-interest loans to help cover the cost of solar and nuclear energy for their nearly 2 million customers over the next two decades.
S.C. lawmakers consider ‘overhaul’ law to change DUI cases.The South Carolina Senate will consider a law intended to “overhaul” what actions are taken when a person is convicted of driving under the influence, or impaired driving.
McMaster wants debit card sales for lottery tickets. Gov. Henry McMaster is proposing the use of debit cards to purchase lottery tickets, but his support, and that of other Republican leaders, may receive pushback from some members of the Legislature over the notion it makes it too easy to gamble.
S.C. leaders react to Trump’s inauguration. In ruby red S.C., President Trump was greeted with statements of joy and congratulation by state leaders.
Biden spends last full day in office in S.C. President Joe Biden spoke at a North Charleston church and a Charleston museum on his last full day in office. Why? To say “thank you” to South Carolina, which he reflected “brought me to the dance.”
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