Florence City Councilman's arrest spawns public comments

The latest arrest of Florence City Councilman Ed Robinson has prompted a lot of angry responses from the community.

Many Florence residents are once again calling for Robinson's resignation.

Robinson was arrested Monday morning on a fraudulent check charge, of an amount less than $500 and a second or subsequent offense.

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Booking reports show Robinson was in custody at the Florence County Detention Center beginning at 11:27 a.m. and ending at 11:43 a.m., meaning Robinson spent about 16 minutes in jail.

Robinson told the Morning News Monday, that the offense stemmed from a check he wrote out to Hudson's Heating & Air company to work on a unit at his former restaurant, Posh.

Robinson said the check was made out in the amount of $424.25, and told the paper of the incident, "It's just something I overlooked."

This latest arrest was the seventh for the city councilman.

A State Law Enforcement Division records check shows that Robinson was arrested on six previous occasions.

• In 1985, he was charged with assault and battery, followed by an arrest in 1988 for disobeying a police officer.
  
• In 2004, Robinson faced a simple assault charge on which he was later acquitted.
  
• In 2005, Robinson was charged with hindering an officer, followed by an arrest in 2007 for driving under suspension.
  
• In March of 2008, Robinson was arrested once again on a charge of driving under suspension and failure to obey a traffic control device.

Many Florence residents have spoken out on scnow.com, asking what it would take for Robinson to be removed from office, and if in fact he could be removed from office based on the charges he's faced.

News13 went to Gov. Mark Sanford's office for the answer.

The governor's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, says that in order for an elected official to be removed from office, they would had to have committed an indictable offense.

Sawyer says that person would had to have been indicted for a criminal offense, and would then be suspended from office pending the resolution of the charges.

Sawyer says if the person was found guilty of the indictable offense, then the attorney general's office would find that the person committed an offense of moral turpitude, and that person would then be removed from office.

Moral turpitude is defined as a gross violation of standards of moral conduct.

12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements says he cannot comment on a pending offense or investigation, and would not say whether any of Robinson's crimes fit the standard of an indictable offense.

Clements did say however, that an indictable offense can be either a felony or a misdemeanor in some cases.

Clements says it is simply an offense that is presented in general sessions court, and one for which the solicitor's office thinks there is ample evidence to support bringing forth charges in a case.

As for Robinson, he told News13 in a previous interview regarding his March 2008 arrest, "I'm not guilty until I'm guilty."

When questioned during that interview about being a public official and facing criminal charges and the impact it may have on the minds of his constituents, he stated "I think people have their opinion and their opinion is good...but in my opinion that's a personal matter and until it's resolved in court I'd rather not say anything else about it."

Count on News13, the Morning News and scnow.com to bring you updates as this story progresses.