Florence County judge suspended by state Supreme Court for ‘dereliction of duty’ (2024)

FLORENCE— Florence County Magistrate Tommy G. Mourounas was suspended June 17 by the S.C. Supreme Court after he “failed on numerous occasions to report for duty” on the bench.

The order suspends Mourounas without pay effective immediately.

“This dereliction of duty is an unacceptable affront to the fair administration of justice and the courts,” Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty wrote in the order.

A copy of the order was shared with all summary court judges “given the significance of this matter,” Beatty wrote.

Similar language was shared with James K. McKenzie, a Georgetown County magistrate, and John J. Kesler, a magistrate at the Spartanburg County Bond Court when they were suspended from their positions in 2023.

The Post and Courier reached out to the Florence County Magistrate Court June 17 and 18 for details about Mourounas’ suspension but did not hear back.

Mourounas is the most recent judge to be suspended after a string were ousted by the state Supreme Court last year. In Dorchester County a St. George municipal court judge was placed on interim suspension in November. David Lamar Little Jr. also had his law license temporarily rescinded.

The South Carolina Bar Association’s website shows Little’s status as “not good standing” and that he is still on interim suspension as of June 19. He was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1998.

According to the orders, the court was petitioned by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates complaints against judges and lawyers in the state.

The petition was based on a subsection in the Rules for Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement dealing with misconduct other than criminal prosecution.

Little handled traffic, code violations and any criminal offenses punishable by a fine of no more than $500 and/or imprisonment for no more than 30 days.

Kelly K. Muckenfuss, a municipal judge in Harleyville, was appointed to take over St. George's caseload, and Peyre T. Lumpkin, who works in the disciplinary counsel's office, handled Little's law clients, according to the orders.

Berkeley County Magistrate Ava Bryant was suspended in September for 90 days without pay after she failed to show up to work "at least 29 days within the last six months," according to an order from Beatty.

According to the order, Bryant had clerks in her office not schedule hearings on certain days and would not report to her office on those days.

"Magistrate Bryantdevised and implemented a work scheduling scheme that deceptively allowed her to take multiple unauthorized days off during the work week while appearing to be at work," Beatty wrote in an order.

In Georgetown County, McKenzie was suspended in August after he repeatedly failed to show up to work “on numerous occasions” and was suspended without pay, according to an order issued by Beatty.

McKenzie took the Murrells Inlet magistrate’s post in 2019 and brought with him 34 years of law enforcement experience.

In Spartanburg County, Kesler, a retired state Highway Patrol trooper, was suspended without pay in August for failing to appear in court multiple times.

Magistrate judges often preside over criminal cases where no more than $500 in fines can be imposed or a jail sentence can be no more than 30 days. They can also set bond, conduct preliminary hearings and sign off on search or arrest warrants. They can also oversee smaller civil cases involving disputes involving no more than $7,500.