Campbell prepares to step down as Darlington County sheriff

W. Glenn Campbell will stuff 24 years in his holster and ride into the sunset as the longest serving sheriff in Darlington County’s history when he leaves office in January.

Campbell decided not to seek re-election in the spring. He will be replaced by Darlington Police Capt. Wayne Byrd, who won the Democratic nomination for the post following a runoff with Chief Deputy Sheriff Tom Gainey. There was no Republican opposition.

“I’ve talked to Wayne on a number of occasions,” Campbell said. “I feel sure it will be a smooth transition.”

Campbell ran for sheriff in 1984 after serving 14 years on the S.C. Highway Patrol. He outdistanced a six-man field, which included a runoff against WBTW News13’s Cecil Chandler. He and Chandler remain close friends.

Campbell ran unopposed for sheriff from 1988 until this year.

“I decided 41 years in law enforcement was enough,” Campbell said. “I appreciate the confidence the people in Darlington County have had in in me since. We have a good sheriff’s department and I’m proud of every member in it.”

Although no officer has been killed in the line of duty during Campbell’s watch, he does grieve for his deputies who have been involved in shootings and for those who have been shot.

“Officers have been involved situations that forced them to shoot and even kill people,” Campbell said. “This is real hard on the law enforcement officers as well as the families of those they shot. This is something you don’t ever get over. I hate it for the families. My deepest sympathies go to those families.”

Campbell has seen the sheriff’s department grow and modernize in 24 years.

The Darlington County Detention Center was added and came under the command of the sheriff’s office during Campbell’s hitch. The old county jail was under the jurisdiction of the Darlington County Administrator’s Office.

Campbell said Darlington County Council has always supported the department.

There were just a few cruisers when Campbell came on board. Only one had less than 100,000 miles on it.

“The cars didn’t even have sirens,” he said with a laugh. “Just a few had blue lights. And they were mounted on the dash, not the tops of the cars.”

Drugs were a problem then, and they remain a problem, Campbell said. But the department is better able to deal with them now because of additional personnel and state-of-the art equipment.

Campbell is one of 12 children who grew up on a farm in Chesterfield. He has seven sisters and four brothers, all of whom are living. At 62, he is the third youngest with the oldest, a sister, being born in 1925.

Campbell joined the Highway Patrol in 1970 at the urging of a friend, James Morris. He was assigned to Darlington County (Hartsville) when he graduated from Highway Patrol school.

He had to resign from the patrol when he ran for sheriff.

But he will never forget the “blizzard” of 1973 when the entire area was blanketed with 17 inches of snow.

“You couldn’t see nothing but the tops of the mile markers on Interstate 95,” he said. “It was the biggest mess you’ve ever seen. People couldn’t see the road. I don’t know how many became stranded, but there were a lot of them.”

Campbell doesn’t know what he’s going to do in retirement. But he’s sure Brenda, his wife of 38 years, will have plenty of tasks for him.

And being the pillar that he is at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Hartsville, he expects the church will be calling on him.

Then there’s his 8-month-old grandchild, Campbell Cash O’Neal.

And, finally, he could take up music and the guitar.

With a name like his, he might well be singing “Gentle on my Mind,” “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” in short order.

Plus, country singer Glen Campbell was one of 12 children of an Arkansas sharecropper.