Former Greenville Sheriff’s deputy Mike Fortner will challenge current Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis in the upcoming June primary election. Fortner spent nearly 29 years at the Greenville County Sheriff’s office before retiring in 2022. He initially started as a reserve deputy before becoming a full-time uniform patrol deputy. He worked in the criminal investigation division and focused on white-collar crimes and then turned his focus on the family violence, robbery, and homicide units. Fortner worked in the Office of Professional Standards and finished his career in the Professional Compliance unit. He currently operates a business with his wife, owning a wedding venue named Aurora Farms in Taylors.
Fortner said he will base his campaign on the “Three E’s” — experience, efficiency, and ethics — a set of factors he believes the sheriff’s office needs for improvement. For the sheriff’s office to run more efficiently, Fortner believes the sheriff’s office needs to utilize its manpower correctly. He mentioned the necessity of having a sheriff with a background in different areas in order to ensure effective handling of cases such as murder investigations and overall efficiency in the sheriff’s office.
Fortner highlighted the need for changing the environment within the sheriff’s office to improve the quality of work life, promote deputies appropriately, and create equal opportunities among deputies. He expressed plans to enhance transparency in the sheriff’s office by introducing programs that provide public access to daily routines and activities within the department.
In response to Fortner’s claims regarding transparency, Sheriff Lewis provided examples of existing transparency measures within the sheriff’s office, including the GCSO Citizen’s Oversight Board and Critical Incident Community Briefing videos released after high-interest events like deputy-involved shootings. Lewis stated that the sheriff’s office is already transparent and believes Fortner may not be fully aware of these practices.
