Tim Baxley has had more than six months to process his win over incumbent Sheriff Randy Garrett.
But he said Monday that when he's sworn in at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Clarendon County Courthouse, he still expects it to be like a surreal moment.
"It's still exciting, especially now that it's here," Baxley said.
While the first few days after his win in the June 14 Democratic primary with 63 percent of the vote involved answering congratulatory messages, much of the past few months, Baxley said, has been working on making the change in office a smooth one for Clarendon's residents.
"What we don't want is any type of lapse in services to our citizens," Baxley said. "We want to continue to help make them feel safe, and to also maintain stability in the county during this time of change."
Baxley unseated Garrett in the primary. Garrett, former Manning Police Chief, has served in the office since 2009.
"It's been a pleasure to serve the people of Clarendon County," he said. "Anything that Tim needs going forward, I will be here to help him."
Garrett said he is also working toward a smooth transition from his administration to Baxley's.
“Randy has been a dear friend of mine for a long time, and I am grateful for the long career he’s had in law enforcement,” Baxley said. “Randy is sheriff until January, and I will do anything he needs me to help him do until I take office in January.”
Baxley announced his intentions to run for sheriff in January, shortly after his retirement from the state Department of Natural Resources.
“I did not campaign while I was still employed with the state,” Baxley said. “That was very important to me. I retired after 32 years of law enforcement, and then I began campaigning. I had thought and prayed a long time about running for sheriff.”
Baxley said he prayed to God not that he would be sheriff for himself, but so “we could make a change to what’s going on.”
“There’s beena lot of concentration on Interstate 95 from the sheriff’s office,” Baxley said. “The interstate is important, but I want to work for the folks that live on either side of the interstate, too. I want to make this county safer for people and for property. I want deputies to be seen. I want them riding around. I want them all to be community action officers.”
A Charleston native who grew up in Barnwell, Baxley began his law enforcement career in Clarendon County in 1985 as a S.C. Highway Patrol trooper assigned to the area.
Baxley grew up with a father who was also in law enforcement. It was “always something I wanted to do,” he said.
“I was around it my whole life; I knew when I graduated from high school and attended USC Salkehatchie that it was what I was going to pursue,” Baxley said.
After serving as a trooper for five years, Baxley was assigned to the state Law Enforcement Division’s narcotics unit before moving to DNR.
“I started out with DNR as a field officer in Clarendon County, which I loved because I was able to work here again,” Baxley said.
He was later promoted to the rank of lieutenant, with supervisory responsibilities over 12 counties.
“Three years after that, I was promoted to captain over staff operations with DNR law enforcement,” Baxley said.
In that role, Baxley oversaw the department’s emergency management division, which deals with hurricanes, floods, ice storms and other natural disasters. He was also supervisor of homeland security.
“That deals with port security in Charleston as well as with other areas throughout the state,” he said. “I was also in charge of the DNR aviation section and DNR law enforcement procurement.”
In the latter role, Baxley worked with a more than $10 million budget and oversaw all contracts and purchasing for vehicles, boats and other law enforcement equipment.
“I was also in charge of the communications section, which consisted of a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day telecommunications center that serviced the entire state,” Baxley noted.
Throughout all of that, Baxley had never considered public office. But the notion started calling to him in 2015, he noted.
“I knew that I could make a difference in Clarendon County,” he said. “I will bring new ideas to the Sheriff’s Office. I wanted to bring my statewide-level experience to the countywide level.”
Baxley said the most important personal trait he carries into the office come January 2017 is that he is a Christian. A member of Summerton Baptist Church, where he was a trustee, he also attends Turbeville Southern Methodist Church.
“I am a Christian and I believe in Christian values,” he said, noting that his faith permeates his beliefs and actions toward his fellow human beings.
“I’m no better than anyone else,” Baxley said. “Jesus died for me just as much as he died for the next person. I’m not more important than you or anyone else.”
He said he wore his faith on his sleeve throughout the campaign.
“Throughout the campaign, that is the first thing I told people when I asked for their support,” he said. “And when I go into office, that’s the most important thing I take, that I am a Christian. My faith is very important to me.”
Baxley said he is going into the office with both moral standards and a list of goals set out for his deputies.
“I will have meetings, and I’m coming in with some moral standards and some goals, and we will discuss both of those,” Baxley said. “When we go in, if everybody can meet those moral standards, goals and expectations, then they should be fine. If they can’t, then those are the ones who may want to look elsewhere.”
Baxley has said throughout the campaign, and on primary night after his win, that he will not be culling large groups of deputies.
“That’s not what I’m going in there to do,” Baxley said. “Again, as long as deputies are meeting the standards that we set forth, they will have nothing to worry about.”
Baxley is married to Helen Powell-Welsh. He has three children, Blake, a DNR officer; Brandon, a Clarendon County fireman; and Brynne, who is in the 11th grade at Clarendon Hall. Baxley also has two step-children, Cam Welsh, a state trooper, and Sloane Welsh, who is attending college.
