Dog Bite Injury Attorney Near Me Pickens, SC

PICKENS, S.C. — Pickens County Sheriff Tommy Blankenship is defending the use of Flock license plate reader cameras in the county, saying the technology is a valuable tool for solving crimes despite concerns from some residents about privacy and data security.

In a nearly five-minute video released this week, Blankenship explained why he supports the camera system and pledged to remove the devices if there is evidence they are being used to violate citizens' constitutional rights.

"We should not just take tools from deputies and punish our victims by abolishing our Flock program because of the misuse or overuse of Flock in another jurisdiction or other states," Blankenship said. "And my pledge to you is that if at any time I am made aware of factual evidence that our federal government is misusing our cameras to infringe on the rights of innocent citizens, I'll cut them down myself and destroy them."

Blankenship said the cameras have helped law enforcement locate missing children, recover stolen vehicles and identify suspects in violent crimes. He acknowledged, however, that the technology can be misused if proper safeguards are not in place.

According to the sheriff, the Pickens County Sheriff's Office regularly monitors access to the county's Flock camera database.

Blankenship also said the county currently operates 16 Flock cameras on private roads covering approximately 466 square miles.

While defending the program, Blankenship said he supports additional oversight and regulations governing the use of automated license plate reader systems.

"I support legislation that clearly defines when systems like Flock are to be used, who can access them, how long the information can be retained, mandatory audits, transparency and reasonable limits on the number of cameras that can be placed in a single area — and real consequences for anyone who abuses that system," Blankenship said.

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. —

A proposed ordinance would regulate Lake Keowee and its surrounding properties from future development.

Pickens County leaders argue an overlay would preserve the body of water as a leisurely space and an asset for clean, pure drinking water.

Chairman Alex Saitta said the character of the lake could be in jeopardy without standards in place.

"There is no land use regulations on the lakes right now. An investor, if you can get the logistics right, he could build a manufacturing plant, an amusement park or a high-rise apartment complex right on the lake, and most don't want that right on the lake," Saitta said. "Overlays have more flexibility."

The county has existing setbacks that bar construction and disturbing plant life or natural barriers along the lakefront. We are told these development standards were established in the early 2000s, and since then, the area has remained largely undisturbed by aggressive development.

Saitta describes an overlay as a less aggressive version of zoning. Instead of splitting areas into residential, commercial or industrial, he said the lake boundary and the properties lining it would be under the overarching umbrella as residential only.

The county said it intends to preserve the natural resource.

"95 people I pitched my plan to, no new commercial, no new industrial, residential only. Four people had reservations," Saitta said. "They want to protect the view sheds. They want to protect the natural beauty. They want the water which we drink."

Some neighbors argue it would dim property values and limit how they can use their private land. John Boes said the lack of rules surrounding land use was a reason he chose to make landfall along the lake shore.

"My house wouldn't exist if that was the case. If I owned a piece of property that I bought under the current rules, and suddenly this rule comes into effect, that property is not worth anywhere near what it was. That's concerning," Boes said.

Boes and his neighbors said they wanted to see written language of the proposal, which passed through a first reading, and were denied access.

"I do respect the need to make certain this continues to be a great lake. It is a great lake. But what problem are we trying to solve? That has not yet, at least from my perspective, been clearly communicated," Boes said.

We asked if we could receive a copy or find one in the upcoming agenda and were told it would not be available. On the website, it said, "no draft language is available."

Three public input meetings were held earlier in 2026, according to the county website. There, you can also find slides explaining the overlay and how it applies to Lake Keowee.

Property owners said they are planning to turn out for a scheduled county council meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. Although the meeting is not explicitly focused on the overlay item, people are invited to speak through public comment.

Saitta said the final reading of the ordinance would not be expected until closer to the fall.

Keep up with what's happening around our area by downloading the WYFF News 4 app on the App Store or Google Play.

Share

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. —

The School District of Pickens County has announced the passing of Aimée Barrilleaux, a beloved teacher at Pickens Elementary School, following her journey with breast cancer.

The district sent a statement saying Barrilleaux was an exceptional educator whose love for her students, passion for teaching, and remarkable strength made a lasting impact on children, families, colleagues, and the entire Pickens Elementary community.

Barrilleaux was the 2022-23 Teacher of the Year for Pickens Elementary. She was also featured in a WYFF News 4 Golden Apple in 2025.

“We are especially grateful that WYFF had the opportunity to help tell Mrs. Barrilleaux's story and recognize the difference she made in the lives of children. That recognition reflected what those who knew and loved Mrs. Barrilleaux had long understood—she was an extraordinary teacher who gave so much of herself to her students,” the statement said.

Aimée Barrilleaux

The district expressed its condolences to Mrs. Barrilleaux's family, her students, her colleagues, and the Pickens Elementary community, adding, “We are grateful for the years she devoted to the children of the School District of Pickens County and for the legacy of love, strength, and service she leaves behind.”

Pickens Elementary Principal Shannon Lawton shared her thoughts on Mrs. Barrilleaux’s impact.

“Aimee Barrilleaux was an incredible teacher and inspiration to everyone. Her passion for teaching was unmatched and she impacted our entire community. Pickens Elementary is a better school because of Aimee Barrilleaux and we will miss her dearly,” Lawton said.

Ashley Ellenburg, a parent of two former students of Barrilleaux, reflected on the teacher’s influence.

“Both of my daughters were privileged to have Aimee Barrilleaux as their 1st grade teacher. She showed them what love, compassion, strength, and resilience look like. Even while facing the unimaginable challenges of her own health and cancer diagnosis, Aimee continued to pour her heart into her students. She always showed up with love, kindness, and determination, making a lasting difference in the lives of the children she taught. Her strength in the face of adversity was an inspiration, and the compassion she showed her students will never be forgotten. We are forever grateful that our daughters had the privilege of having such a remarkable teacher and a beautiful example of strength, compassion, and grace,” Ellenburg said.

Megan Christian, another parent, shared how Barrilleaux’s lessons extended beyond the classroom.

“Some people teach lessons that stay with us long after the school day ends. Aimee has been that person—not only to her students, but to my children and my family. Her kindness, compassion, strength, and unwavering love have touched our lives in ways words can hardly express. Her impact will live on in our students, in our family,” Christian said.

Amy Ramey, who worked alongside Barrilleaux as her kindergarten assistant, spoke about her colleague’s dedication.

“It was truly an honor to work alongside Aimee as her Kindergarten Assistant. I will forever admire her strength and determination to show up for her students every day that she could, even on the days when I knew her battle with cancer was especially difficult.

Aimee loved her students deeply and fought so hard to be at school because teaching was something she truly loved. Her last day as a teacher was also our students' first day, and I will be forever grateful that she was able to do what she loved one last time. It was a beautiful reflection of the kind of teacher and person she was—selfless, devoted, and completely committed to her students. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to work beside her and share her passion,” Ramey said.

Share

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Pickens County sheriff posted a video to social media addressing public concern about Flock Safety cameras.

Sheriff Tommy Blankenship said his job is to protect both safety and freedom, calling the two “partners,” not enemies.

“I like to think of America as traveling down the road of freedom, and on each side of that road are ditches. To one side is the ditch of tyranny, where the government has too much power and individual liberty is lost,” Blankenship said. “But on the other side is the ditch of anarchy, where there are too few laws, criminals thrive, innocent people suffer, and liberty is lost.”

In the video, Blankenship said Flock Safety cameras can be a valuable tool for finding missing children, locating stolen vehicles, identifying violent criminals and helping intercept dangerous illicit drugs.

Blankenship also acknowledged that the cameras, like every tool available to law enforcement, can be misused. He said courts have continually placed limits on government power and that there must be real consequences when those limits are violated.

“I support legislation that clearly defines when systems like Flock are to be used, who can access them, how long the information can be retained, mandatory audits, transparency, and reasonable limits on the number of cameras that can be placed in a single area. And real consequences for anyone who abuses that system,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship said he and his command staff are working on a transparency tool that citizens can access through the sheriff’s office website.

According to Blankenship, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office currently has 81 personnel with access to Flock Safety, including six with administrative rights. He said 54% of those users have logged in during the last 30 days.

There are currently 16 cameras covering 466 square miles, or about 29 square miles per camera. Blankenship said the cameras are placed on private property throughout the county and face public roadways.

Blankenship said the cameras capture the make, model, license plate and color of passing vehicles. He said the data is deleted and unavailable to law enforcement after 30 days.

Blankenship said all searches require specific information from the user and are cataloged so they can be reviewed by those with administrative rights.

So far this year, Blankenship said the sheriff’s office has had about 4,700 searches. He said the top searches were for larceny and theft, drugs and narcotics, wanted persons and motor vehicle thefts.

Additionally, Blankenship said the system can integrate with national and state databases, such as NCIC, to automatically generate alerts to law enforcement for stolen vehicles, missing persons, wanted persons and AMBER Alerts.

Local law enforcement can also create custom hot lists for active investigations. Blankenship said the sheriff’s office has created about 330 custom hot lists, but alerts must be corroborated before law enforcement can act.

Blankenship said audits have shown no misuse of the system to date. He said the sheriff’s office has not been notified of any misuse by Flock, which has a tool that flags suspicious activity.

“We should not just take tools from deputies and punish our victims by abolishing our Flock program because of the misuse or overuse of Flock in another jurisdiction or other states,” Blankenship said. “And my pledge to you is that if at any time I am made aware of factual evidence that our federal government is misusing our cameras to infringe on the rights of innocent citizens, I’ll cut them down myself and destroy them.”

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with FOX Carolina. For more free content like this, .

Lakefront homeowners say they can’t review the latest version of a proposed ordinance affecting Lakes Keowee and Jocassee before a scheduled public hearing

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A proposed overlay district that would limit development near Lakes Keowee and Jocassee has left some Pickens County residents questioning what rules are on the table — and why they cannot review the latest version of the ordinance before being asked to comment.

County leaders say the overlay district would apply to properties within about 1,320 feet, or a quarter mile, of the shorelines of Lakes Keowee and Jocassee. Under the proposal, no new industrial or commercial development would be allowed within that zone. The overlay also would prohibit new multifamily housing, duplexes and townhomes while allowing single-family homes.

County Council Chairman Alex Saitta said the rationale for the overlay stems from a lack of existing land-use regulations along the lakes.

“Lake Keowee and Jocassee are unique assets in Pickens County,” Saitta said. “There’s no zoning and little to no land-use regulation on the lake that’s outside of an HOA. If an investor could get the logistics down, they could build a manufacturing plant right on the lake, an amusement park ... a high-rise apartment complex on the lake.”

Saitta said the county also has a water quality interest in the proposal.

“Most of us drink water out of the lake,” he said. “The water authority is going to be building a water plant right on the shores of the lake. So the water quality has to be protected from overdevelopment.”

One of the main points of confusion has centered on the county’s existing 50-foot shoreline setback. The version of the draft ordinance posted online includes language proposing a 100-foot setback — double the current standard. Many residents say they purchased or built their homes based on the existing 50-foot rule.

Saitta told Fox Carolina the expanded setback is no longer part of the plan.

“County council members agree with that 50-foot setback,” he said. “So we don’t plan to change that.”

However, as of the public hearing, the revised draft had not been posted online. County officials said they were waiting until after the meeting, when the previous meeting’s minutes were expected to be approved, before publishing the updated version. Fox Carolina found no county rule or state law requiring officials to withhold updated drafts until meeting minutes are approved.

Resident Dick Bishop, who has lived on Lake Keowee for 17 years, said the lack of a clear, accessible document has made it difficult to evaluate the proposal.

“I haven’t really seen a true document that I can actually review to understand exactly what’s going on,” Bishop said. “They start out talking about water quality, but it really seems like now they’re more worried about development.”

Bishop said he supports protecting the lake but questioned whether the ordinance addresses a documented problem.

“So far we haven’t seen any evidence that the water quality — or any data — is saying that water quality is a problem,” he said. “So then we think it’s more just to restrict development.”

He also questioned what a larger setback could mean for existing homeowners.

“Our house is 50 feet away from the lake,” Bishop said. “If they increase that ordinance to restrict things that are 100 feet away from the lake, our whole house is almost encompassed by this. It’s very unknown as to what that means to me in the future — if I want to make a modification to the house, or even if I were to try to sell the house, would that cause a problem for the new buyer?”

Bishop said he would support the ordinance if the setback remains at 50 feet but added that other questions remain.

“I think the question becomes commercial development,” he said, citing a planned pool renovation in his community as an example of an amenity that could be affected by expanded restrictions.

Bishop also pushed back on the framing of the overlay as a response to potential large-scale commercial development, noting that the area already operates under a community master plan approved by Pickens County about 25 years ago.

“If they come in and put some type of overlay on top of our master plan here, that’s changing the ballgame on a promise that Pickens County made 25 years ago,” he said.

Russ Rhodus, who has lived on the lake for seven years, said he is in the middle of a home renovation and needs to know how the ordinance would affect his property.

“We’re going through a redo of our house,” Rhodus said. “We’ve spent a lot of money on plans and architects. I’d really like to know all the details about what’s allowed.”

Rhodus said the process has raised broader concerns about property rights.

“As a property owner, you’re like, ‘I’ve got property rights. Are they infringing on those?’” he said. “The last thing you want is somebody coming in and telling you what you can do there.”

He said he could not evaluate the proposal without seeing the full document.

“Until we can see everything that they’re doing and everything that they’re talking about and get a full, complete view of everything, I don’t see how we can understand what’s going on,” Rhodus said.

Rhodus also questioned why the revised draft had not been released before the hearing.

“It just feels like it’s not being honest,” he said. “You’d just like to see full transparency.”

Both residents said they support protecting the lakes.

“We want the lake protected. There’s no question about it. We’re on the lake. We want the lake protected,” Bishop said.

Bishop added that he believes smart restrictions on undeveloped portions of the shoreline could be effective, noting that about 85% of the shoreline is already developed.

“It’s not the restriction that’s going to protect the lake,” he said. “It’s really the quality of what’s done — making sure construction complies with environmental rules and making sure it does not impact the lake.”

Saitta said the county has held multiple public meetings on the proposal.

“We’re going to gather some more public input tonight,” he said. “I think this will be the ninth public meeting that we’ve had on the issue.”

County officials said a final decision on the ordinance is not expected until early fall.

Residents said they plan to ask county leaders to release the latest version of the ordinance before it advances further in the approval process.

MORE NEWS:

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with FOX Carolina. For more free content like this, .