Sheriff Leon Lott has served as sheriff of Richland County, S.C., since 1997. He began his law enforcement career in 1975 as a patrol officer with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD): Advancing through the ranks of RCSD and serving in the various capacities of criminal investigator, narcotics agent, lieutenant and captain of Narcotics Division, administrative captain, SWAT team officer, Uniform Patrol captain, and watch commander.
In 1993, Lott left RCSD to become Chief of Police for St. Matthews, S.C. He returned to RCSD when he was elected sheriff in 1996.
In 2010, Lott traveled to Erbil, Iraq, at the invitation of the Iraqi government to help that war-torn country establish its first-ever female police academy. RCSD continues its strong relationship and an officer exchange program with Iraq, as it does with other foreign law enforcement agencies and U.S. military forces domestically. Under Sheriff Lott’s leadership, RCSD was the first law enforcement agency in the nation to establish a pre-PTSD conditioning program for deputies and other officers. This training is mandatory for all RCSD deputies.
Named National Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff’s Association in 2021, Lott leads one of the largest sheriff’s offices in the southeastern United States.
Often referred to as “America’s Law Enforcement Agency,” Sheriff Lott’s near-1,000-employee RCSD fields nearly 800 sworn deputies and Lott himself has been recognized as “one of the most creatively innovative, bridge-building law enforcement leaders in the nation.”
Sheriff Lott is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Furman University’s Diversity Leadership Academy. A graduate of the University of South Carolina-Aiken (Associate’s degree in Police Administration) and the University of South Carolina-Columbia (earning a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and continuing with graduate study for a Masters in Criminal Justice), he also holds a Masters in Emergency Management from Lander University. Sheriff Lott received an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Public Service from the University of South Carolina in December 2021.
Sheriff Lott also commands the all-volunteer S.C. State Guard, holding the rank of major general in that state defense force.
