Last week, the Charleston County Sheriff’s office fired one of its officials for defaulting on student loans.
Chief Deputy Joyce Smith, 48, was terminated on April 1 after being hired by County Sheriff Kristin Graziano in December 2020. Graziano claims in a letter that the termination was necessary “because South Carolina prohibits my office (among others) from employing individuals who are willfully in default on certain student loans.”
Graziano’s office wrote the employment standards in November 2020, just before she took office. Among them is a commitment for employees to “promptly pay all debts.”
BIDEN EXTENDS STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FREEZE THROUGH AUGUST
According to Graziano, Smith “misunderstood the CARES Act Federal Student loan protections to be an automatic, penalty-free deferral.” At that point, the CARES Act loan moratorium had been in effect for eight months, suspending all payments on direct loans, some Federal Perkins loans, and some Federal Family Education Loans and bringing their interest rates down to 0%. Only 5% of student borrowers are ineligible for the program.
Smith’s loan was an FFEL, although it is unclear which type of loan Smith applied for, when she enrolled in classes, or which school she attended. Her previous employer, the Charleston Police Department, appeared to have no problem with her loans, employing her for almost 25 years, right up until she took a new position with the county.
“I approved your hiring on the basis that, accepting your representations as true, your default was not willful,” Graziano wrote.
The sheriff’s office discovered in January 2022 that the loans, apparently functioning outside of the moratorium that was extended to Aug. 31, fell into default and were affecting Smith’s credit score. Graziano says she met with Smith to encourage compliance with the payments and even shared resources that could help.
By March 17, it was clear to the sheriff that nothing had been paid on the loans because they remained in “collection account” status.
“I am sorry that it has come to this, but you have left me no other reasonable alternative,” Graziano wrote.
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Smith’s last day will be April 8.
