John A. “Tony” Love has been promoted to the position of Georgetown County’s Chief Magistrate. He previously served as Associate Chief Magistrate under Isaac Pyatt, who retired in late January after serving as Chief Magistrate for 20 years.
A resident of the Pawleys Island area and a native of Horry County, Love spent 25 years with the S.C. Highway Patrol, retiring as Post Commander for Georgetown and Williamsburg counties. He was appointed to the bench in 2015 to serve the Georgetown region of the county. He was named associate magistrate two years later and worked closely with Pyatt in that role. He said it’s a great honor to have been selected to succeed Pyatt and serve the community he loves. He sees the role as one where he has the opportunity to help people.
“It’s my goal to try to help everybody that I can and give back to the community,” he said. “People make mistakes in life. I understand that and those are the ones I want to try to help the most.”
One of the things he’s most proud of is his work with the county’s drug court, a diversionary program through the Solicitor’s Office that helps nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems.
“That’s a very rewarding court because you get to literally watch people change before your eyes and become contributing members of our community again,” he said. “It’s amazing to watch. Of course not everybody makes it through. If they fail the course, they do go and serve their sentences. But a lot do succeed. I enjoy watching people become successful in life when they’ve been at their rock bottom. It’s very rewarding.”
Love said he wants people to feel comfortable coming to court and know they will be treated fairly while he’s on the bench. He tries to treat everyone how he would want his mother to be treated, he said.
“She was very influential in my life and I know she would have been scared to come to court anytime. I don’t want anyone to have that type of feeling,” he said. “Even if someone is found guilty or whether they receive any leniency – regardless of what the outcome is – I want them to feel confident in coming in here and knowing that their voices are going to be heard. I want them to understand that I’m going to be fair to everybody, no matter what their background is.”
Judge Steven Pop has been promoted to fill Love’s former role as Associate Chief Magistrate, but his seat on the bench as magistrate for the Georgetown area is currently vacant. A new judge will be appointed by the legislative delegation in the near future.