Swearingen 
Branham
WINNSBORO – Two Fairfield County elected officials have filed incident reports against the Fairfield County Interim Administrator’s husband for posting what the two officials called threats against them and others.
Fairfield County Treasurer Norma Branham and Fairfield County Councilwoman Peggy Swearingen both filed incident reports on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, against Otis Johnson, 53, the husband of the county’s Interim Administrator Laura Johnson.
Otis Johnson’s daily Facebook posts are laced with vulgarities and veiled threats that appear to be directed at those he perceives disagree with his wife Laura or find fault with her work as the interim administrator. His targets include some Fairfield County council members, the county treasurer, county auditor, and others.
Laura Johnson has not criticized or made any public statements regarding her husband’s posts.
Branham recently drew Otis Johnson’s ire when she addressed council about what she sees as some of the government’s current shortcomings under Laura Johnson’s leadership and called upon council members to give the administrator search “the attention and close scrutiny it deserves.” She suggested, “The familiar may be easiest, but is not always best.”
“I’m concerned with a pattern I have seen in some county leaders who appear to make decisions based on how the outcome will benefit them personally rather than what may be best for the county, its residents, and our shared future,” Branham continued. “To accomplish these outcomes, facts are at times distorted or at times blatantly misrepresented.”
Following Branham’s appearance before council, Otis Johnson posted a photo of her at the podium and commented that “the county paids [sic] and [sic] independent accounting firm to do your books for more than 20 plus years.”
On Tuesday, Branham said she planned to press charges, saying that post and others, including one in which Otis Johnson wrote, “I will come after your a**…” made her fearful and feel threatened. Even though Otis Johnson identified Branham as the county treasurer in one post, a County Magistrate ruled that the threats were not aimed directly at Branham that there was no probable cause.
According to a spokesperson with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s, the issue has been turned over to the South Carolina Division of Law Enforcement (SLED).
According to the incident reports, Swearingen said she believes Otis Johnson’s threats were directed at her and stem from ongoing issues between some county council members (including her) and Otis Johnson’s wife.
Some of those posts came after Swearingen questioned Laura Johnson at the December council meeting regarding the million or so dollars Laura Johnson paid for IRS penalties and interest, when she was not authorized by council to do so.
In another post that featured a graphic of people being pushed backward into a deep hole, Otis Johnson wrote, “[This is] what really should be done to people who insult your integrity and question your work ethics in small southern towns.”
Laura Johnson served a little over a year as an assistant administrator at the county before retiring in June 2021. She was hired in January 2023 under a six-month contract to be the interim administrator of the county. Council voted to pay her $150,000, $10,000 more than the previous administrator who had 20 years’ experience as an administrator and who ushered in more than $100 million investment during his five years of employment with the county.
Council members have come under fire for subsequently extending Laura Johnson’s six months contact to a full year as they drug out the search for a permanent administrator from April, 2022 until the present.
Just hours after Branham and Swearingen filed the incident reports against Otis Johnson on Tuesday, Council Chairman Douglas Pauley – who supports Johnson – called an unexpected special meeting for for the next day to select a permanent administrator. That vote will take place hours after The Voice goes to press today, Jan. 17.
Laura Johnson has been criticized by citizens and some council members recently for a number of financial missteps, including writing hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks to pay assessments for IRS penalties and fines last May and June without notifying more than half the council members about the amounts or asking for authorization until six months later on Dec. 11, 2023; being late with the current annual audit; and other county matters, including her hiring and firing practices.
“These Facebook posts may not, under the law, be considered direct threats to my life,” Branham said, “but the posts and the photos are aimed at intimidating me, the public, and even her bosses – the council members – from criticizing Laura Johnson’s mismanagement and her ability to run an effective government,” Branham said. “Fairfield government is in critical condition.”
