Horry County Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., in Council Chambers at the Government & Justice Center, 1301 2nd Avenue in Conway. When a public-safety item comes up there, people in the room often expect council to settle everything from patrol staffing to what happens after a DUI arrest on U.S. 501. It can settle part of it.
Horry County Council funds and oversees county public-safety services, including the county police department, emergency services and the budget that pays for them. It doesn't write DUI law. South Carolina's DUI offenses and penalties come from the General Assembly, get prosecuted in state courts, and are decided by judges.
I work this beat by asking one question before any other: who has legal authority? For public safety in Horry County, the answer is split across at least five offices, and each one leaves its own paper trail. Knowing which record belongs to which office saves you a trip to the wrong meeting.
Who decides what, office by office
Here's the split as the public record lays it out. It isn't a ranking of who matters more. It's a map of where each decision gets written down, so you know which document to ask for.
Who Decides?
| The decision | Who makes it | Where it's written |
|---|---|---|
| What counts as DUI, and the penalties | S.C. General Assembly | S.C. Code Title 56, Chapter 5 |
| How much the county spends on police, EMS and 911 | Horry County Council | Annual county budget ordinance |
| Patrol in unincorporated areas | Horry County Police Department | Department policy; county budget |
| Patrol inside city limits | City police (Conway, Myrtle Beach, others) | City budgets and ordinances |
| Major state highways | S.C. Highway Patrol | State agency budget |
| Running the county jail | Horry County Sheriff's Office | Detention center records |
| Guilt and sentencing | Magistrate, municipal and circuit judges | Court records |
What County Council can actually do
South Carolina's Home Rule Act lists county powers in Section 4-9-30 of the state code. Councils can levy taxes, adopt a budget, create departments and pass ordinances. When a council attaches a penalty to one of its ordinances, that penalty can't go beyond what a magistrate's court is allowed to hand down.
In practice, council's public-safety power is mostly about money and structure. It decides how many officers the county budget pays for, how emergency medical service and 911 dispatch are staffed, and how the detention center is funded. Those are real choices, and they show up in response times in places like Carolina Forest, Aynor and Loris.
What council can't do is redefine a state crime. A county ordinance won't lower the blood-alcohol threshold, lengthen a license suspension or change what a first offense costs. Those numbers live in state law, and only the Legislature can move them.
County Council can pay for the officer on U.S. 501. It can't rewrite the law that officer enforces.
Where DUI law comes from
South Carolina's DUI statute is Section 56-5-2930, part of the motor vehicle chapter of Title 56. Nearby sections cover driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration and implied consent to breath testing. You can read the full text on the South Carolina Legislature's code pages. I'd read it there before trusting any summary, this one included.
Those laws change only when the General Assembly passes a bill and the governor signs it, or lawmakers override a veto. That makes DUI policy a State House question. Horry County's House members, including whoever holds District 61, vote on it in Columbia. County Council members don't get a vote.
After an arrest, the case moves through state courts. Many first-offense cases start in magistrate or municipal court, and more serious cases go to general sessions, where the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office prosecutes for Horry and Georgetown counties. Judges decide guilt and sentences. Council has no role in any single case.
What the Record Says
- County powers and ordinance penalty limits: S.C. Code § 4-9-30
- DUI and related offenses: S.C. Code § 56-5-2930 and following
- Conflicts of interest for public officials: S.C. Code § 8-13-700
- Council members, terms and meeting schedule: Horry County Council
Horry County's unusual police setup
Most South Carolina counties rely on the elected sheriff for county law enforcement. Horry County also runs its own county police department for unincorporated areas. Grand Strand Daily reported in May 2025 that it's the last separate county police department left in the state, and that a House bill filed by Rep. William Bailey of North Myrtle Beach would hand its duties back to the sheriff.
That bill is a good test of the authority question. The department's structure traces back to state legislation, so its future runs through the General Assembly, not only through County Council. If you want to know where the bill stands, check its status on the Legislature's site instead of relying on what you hear at a campaign event.
Inside city limits the picture shifts again. Conway, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach run their own police departments under their own city councils, and the Highway Patrol works the major highways. The same stretch of road can involve a different agency depending on which side of a city line the stop happens.
Public office and private practice are different roles
Johnny Gardner is an unusually clear example of why institutional roles need to be separated carefully. He holds a public role as Horry County Council Chairman, and he separately operates a private law practice.
Horry County currently lists Johnny Gardner as County Council Chairman, and the county's official biography notes his legal background and private-practice history. Separately, Johnny Gardner Law advertises DUI-defense services in Conway and throughout Horry County.
A person researching a Grand Strand DUI lawyer is looking for private legal representation. That's different from Gardner's role on County Council. Council can consider matters within county-government authority, while South Carolina's statewide criminal statutes are enacted through state government and applied through the judicial system.
State law already plans for overlaps like this. Section 8-13-700 of the state Ethics Act bars officials from using public office for private economic gain, and it requires them to disclose a conflict and step aside from decisions that affect their own economic interests. The chairman's seat is on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and our Local Elections section covers where to find filings for that race. Keeping the two roles separate makes local government easier to understand.
Disclosure
This article contains a paid link to the website of Johnny Gardner Law. Mr. Gardner holds public office and is on the 2026 ballot. The link is advertising. It isn't an endorsement of any candidate or attorney, and it didn't change how this article describes his public role. Voteforjohncassidy doesn't endorse candidates.
How to follow a public-safety decision yourself
- Find the agenda. Council posts agendas and minutes on the county website ahead of each meeting. Public-safety items often show up in committee first.
- Read the budget line, not the press release. Staffing and equipment decisions are in the annual budget ordinance, usually adopted in late spring.
- Check the statute. If someone says the county "changed DUI law," look up Title 56. If the text didn't change, the county didn't change it.
- Ask the right office. Case questions go to the court or the solicitor. Patrol questions go to the agency that made the stop. Funding questions go to council.
County-level records and meeting coverage live in our Horry County Government section, and new explainers land in The Local Ledger as they're filed.
Questions readers ask
Can Horry County Council change South Carolina's DUI penalties?
No. DUI offenses and penalties are set by the General Assembly in Title 56 of the S.C. Code. County ordinances can carry penalties only up to what a magistrate's court can impose, and they can't rewrite a state crime.
Who prosecutes DUI cases in Horry County?
DUI cases are handled in state courts. Many first-offense cases start in magistrate or municipal court, while general sessions cases in Horry and Georgetown counties are prosecuted by the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office. A judge decides guilt and sentencing.
Which agency handles a traffic stop in Horry County?
It depends on where the stop happens. The Horry County Police Department patrols unincorporated areas, city police work inside city limits such as Conway and Myrtle Beach, and the S.C. Highway Patrol covers state highways. The sheriff's office runs the county detention center.
Does the council chairman's law practice affect county business?
Public office and private practice are separate roles. South Carolina's Ethics Act, in Section 8-13-700, requires public officials to disclose conflicts and not take part in decisions that affect their own economic interests. Disclosure filings are available through the State Ethics Commission.
Where I'd start
If your concern is how fast an officer reaches your road, go to a council budget hearing and ask about the staffing numbers in the public-safety lines. If your concern is what a DUI charge means, or what it should mean, that's a letter to your state House member and senator. Sending the right question to the right office is most of the work, and it's the part nobody else can do for you.