Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott landed a lofty third place in the Post & Courier’s annual 30-person “Power List” for Columbia, South Carolina, published Wednesday, Dec. 18.
First-place honors went to University of South Carolina President Michael Amiridis, and Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann came in second. South Carolina Gamecock Women’s Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley also made the cut at fourth place: Staley has led the Gamecocks to three national championships including the NCAA WBB championship in 2024. And Gamecock Head Football Coach Shane Beamer came in at a close fifth on the Power List: Beamer, by the way, led the Gamecocks to a wildly unexpected 9-3 regular season and with his Gamecock football team is heading to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on New Year’s Eve.
According to the P&C Power ranking: “[Leon] Lott just won his eighth term as sheriff of Richland County, the second most populous in the state, with an estimated 425,000 residents. Lott, 71, leads an agency that has around 900 personnel and an annual budget of $48 million. He has said his main priority is to reduce gun violence in the Columbia area, especially among juveniles. Lott was named Sheriff of the Year in 2021 by both the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association. He currently also serves as commander of the South Carolina State Guard.”
See full list and story here.
