A. Lane Cribb, Sheriff of Georgetown County for 26 years, was posthumously inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame during a ceremony for meritorious service at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia on Oct. 2.
Cribb, who died in office on Sept. 19, 2019, at age 73, started his law enforcement career in 1973 as an investigator with the state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission. He worked as an investigator with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office before joining the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. He was first elected sheriff in 1992.
Cribb retained his down-to-earth upbringing from Pleasant Hill. Upon meeting someone from his old stomping grounds, he would quiz them until he found something to share about farming. For others, it would be relatives he knew. Cribb had an uncanny knack for remembering names, a trait that served him well in winning seven elections. But it was his plain-spoken, man-of-few-words nature that served him best.
He cared deeply about everyone, including those who were incarcerated. Cribb started a Re-entry Program for felons that has been a model for the nation with a high success rate of inmates returning to society with quality jobs.
Particularly aided by Sheriff Cribb were victims of domestic abuse. The Family Justice Center presented Sheriff Cribb an award “for his outstanding and relentless efforts on behalf of victims of domestic violence and their children.”