CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) — A Charleston representative has taken steps to repeal an outdated law still in effect.

On Tuesday, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis (D-North Charleston) introduced a bill that would allow student borrowers to work for state offices, despite defaulting on their loans.

South Carolina State Code SC 59-111-50 currently reads:

No one who willfully defaulted on a National Direct Student Loan, National Defense Student Loan, Federally Guaranteed Student Loan, Nursing Student Loan, Health Professions Student Loan or on a law enforcement education loan shall not be presently or hereafter employed by the State or any of its departments, agencies or subdivisions until all defects are corrected and the loan repayments are made; provided, however, that if such person and his lender voluntarily enter into a post-default agreement under which the Debt will be repaid and the lender confirms such agreement in writing with the agency, department or subdivision of the State, the loan will not be considered a default and the default is considered cured as long as the person complies with the terms of the agreement.

It’s her response to the sheriff’s office firing former chief deputy Joyce Smith over unpaid student loans earlier this month.

“What I can do in my capacity is look for ways to prevent such situations from happening again in the future,” Pendarvis said. “I think that’s something the sheriff’s office would support; I think that’s something that Joyce Smith obviously would have liked to have had. »

Pendarvis says this is long overdue.

He said he’s spoken to her and Sheriff Kristen Graziano since.

“It’s a difficult situation. It’s a personnel issue, so I don’t want to go into too much detail. But we know what happened. It’s just an unfortunate situation all around. There are no winners here. It’s a lose-lose situation. You have someone who has been a pillar in the community and someone who has done a lot of good work in the community and unfortunately things had to end like this,” Pendarvis said.

The bill is sponsored by other Charleston-area representatives, including JA Moore, Wendell Gilliard, Spencer Wetmore, Leon Stavrinakis and Deon Tedder.

Pendarvis expects this legislation to garner broad bipartisan support.

The session is due to end in four weeks, so the bill is unlikely to pass this year unless it is included as part of a larger Senate bill.

Pendarvis says that if it doesn’t pass, it will have to be reviewed next year.

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