Carpenter: Joey Price No Longer with County
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Detention Center’s (FCDC) compliance with regulations required by the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA) is in question… again.
A source in the government, who asked not to be named, told The Voice that the regulations in question pertain to failure to properly file reports with the state concerning documentation of training and other Detention Center requirements.
While Fairfield County Administrator Vic Carpenter had not publicly discussed details concerning the issue, on Thursday, May 14, he told The Voice that Joey Price, who had been overseeing the Detention Center, is no longer with the county, effective Wednesday, May 13, but that he could not discuss the situation further at that time.
Later that day, The Voice learned that the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy was once again looking into whether the county was properly filing documentation concerning training and other employee matters.
On Friday morning, May 15, Carpenter issued the following statement: “Fairfield County is currently reviewing the status of the Fairfield County Detention Center’s (FCDC) compliance with regulations from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA). We are working closely with SCCJA to ensure FCDC remains in good standing. The County is unaware whether SCCJA has made any final determination regarding FCDC’s compliance with state regulations.”
Scott Deckard, an investigator with the Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia told The Voice that the investigation is ongoing.
“We’re still looking into that matter, and we can’t provide any information on that at this time,” Deckard said when asked about any penalty that might result from the investigation.
Previous Violations
A little over four months ago, on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy formally fined the county $55,000 for staffing violations and notified Fairfield County that it “shall pay a civil penalty of $1,071,770 for being out of compliance with the SC Code of Laws section 23-33-40 and SC Code of Regulations 37-022, of which $1,016,770 is suspended upon immediate payment of $55,000 and successful completion of two years’ probation, quarterly audits performed by CJA, and Captain Artis successfully attending and completing Training Manager Development course at CJA.
Carpenter later said those violations were primarily the result of failure to properly file paperwork documenting certain employee and staffing issues.
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, “the [Detention Center] director, deputy director, and training captain were terminated,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter announced a major shuffle in supervision to right the county’s ship, naming the county’s Community and Public Services Director Joe Price – who had been with the county for a year – as interim director of the Detention Center. In addition to those duties, Carpenter designated Price to simultaneously oversee the Animal Shelter, Animal Control, Emergency Management, and E 9-1-1.
“A major effort to find a replacement for the [Detention Center] director’s position has already begun,” Carpenter said in January. “It is the commitment of Fairfield County that its Detention Center will always be run in a fashion and manner that are always compliant with state and federal regulations and the law. And that it be run in a fashion that brings credit and comfort to our citizens.
“If we get past two years with no further problems at the Detention Center, then there will be no fine beyond the $55,000,” Carpenter told The Voice in January. “But, if, during those two years, we don’t take care of business as we should we could get some kind of fine,” he said.
That fine could be as much as $1,016,770.