Event Information

Amie L. Clifford serves as General Counsel and Director of Education Services for the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination. Her responsibilities include providing legal advice and services to the Commission and, upon request, the Solicitors and their staff; the planning, implementation and management of educational programs for state and local prosecutors; making presentations on various topics; monitoring and analyzing appellate opinions and rule changes; monitoring, analyzing and, as needed, drafting legislation; and special projects, including preparation of amicus briefs.

Prior to joining the Commission in November 2007, she was employed by the National District Attorneys Association as the Director of the National Center for Prosecution Ethics and as an Assistant Director of Programs for the National College of District Attorneys. Immediately prior to joining NDAA/NCDA, she served as a Judicial Fellow (now called Supreme Court Fellow) at the U.S. Sentencing Commission (1999 – 2000), and, before that, as an Assistant Solicitor in the Charleston County Solicitor’s Office (1991 – 1999), Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Section of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office (1984 – 1991), and Staff Attorney with Piedmont Legal Services, Inc. (1983 – 1984). As a volunteer, Ms. Clifford has represented the State in criminal appeals as a Special Assistant Attorney General (2006 – 2010; 2013 – 2018).

She has been involved in organized Bar activities at both the state and national level. Her current service includes Chair of the South Carolina Bar Ethics Advisory Committee, Immediate Past-Chair of the Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section, Member of the South Caroling Bar House of Delegates, Member of the Professional Responsibility Committee, Member of the Practice and Procedure Committee, and Volunteer, Fee Dispute Board. Her past Bar services includes service as President of the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association (1999; 2019), President of the South Carolina Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2001 – 2002), President of the South Carolina Bar Young Lawyers Division (1992 – 1993), Chair of the South Carolina Bar Criminal Law Section (1991 – 1992), Chair of the South Carolina Bar Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section (2003 – 2004; 2021 – 2022), and member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2005 – 2008), and Council member of the ABA Criminal Justice Section (1995 – 1998). She is also a Fellow of the National Institute for the Teaching of Ethics and Professionalism (Inaugural Group) (2005). Since 1985, she has participated in CLE trainings conducted by the South Carolina Bar, the ABA, and other organizations. Ms. Clifford has served as a contributing author for publications of the South Carolina Bar (South Carolina Jurisprudence and South Carolina Criminal Trial Techniques Handbook), the ABA (The Fourth Amendment Handbook: A Chronological Survey of Supreme Court Decisions (2nd ed.) (published in October 2002 by the ABA, for which she also served as co-editor), and the National District Attorneys Association (Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Guide to Ethics and Civil Liability (2nd ed. 2007 NDAA) (also served as editor) and Managing Prosecutors (2007 NDAA)).

Ms. Clifford received her Bachelor of Arts degree (French) from Northwestern State University of Louisiana (at the age of 19) and her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in May 1982 (at the age of 22). She was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in November of that same year.

 Mr. Barnette is the Solicitor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor Office, which consists of Spartanburg and Cherokee County since February 2011. He was the Principal Deputy Solicitor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit from January 2001 to February 2011. He was a Spartanburg County Magistrate Court Judge from July 1996 to January 2001. He was an Assistant Solicitor from January 1991 to July 1996. He was in private practice from June 1990 to January 1991 in Easley, South Carolina. He also taught Chemistry and Physical Science at Travelers Rest High School from August 1988 to June 1990. He graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1988 with a J.D. Degree. He graduated from Marshall University in 1985 and received a B.A. Degree in Education with specializations in Chemistry and General Science. He received the 2006 Ernest F. Hollings Award for Excellence in state prosecution that is his profession's top honor in the State of South Carolina. He received an Outstanding Traffic Safety Prosecutor Award from the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators in 2006. He received the 2007 Prosecutor of the Year Award from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. He received the 2010 Criminal Justice Award from the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCV AN) for his work with crime victims and their families. He received the 2013 Solicitor of the Year Award from the South Carolina Victim Advocate Association (SCLEV A). He has taught numerous classes, seminars, and presentations through South Carolina and the Southeast. He has taught Evidence Law and DUI Law at the South Carolina Magistrate Court Orientation School and training seminars (1997-2011). He done presentations at the Death Penalty sections and training (2004-2016) and Driving section (1991- 2016) at the South Carolina Solicitor's Conferences and Training Sessions. He has made a presentation at Southeast Law Enforcement Training at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee in 2005. He received an award from MADD in 1996 for his traffic prosecution in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. He received the Spartanburg Optimist Club Award for Outstanding Prosecution in 2002. He was a contributing author in Handling Traffic Cases in South Carolina, 4^th Edition (2005) and 5th Edition (2012). He also has produced the Case Law on Driving Cases in South Carolina booklet for several years for judges, attorneys, and law enforcement officers through South Carolina. In his position of Spartanburg County Magistrate Court Judge, he heard over a hundred jury trials including civil and criminal matters. He also heard hundreds of non-jury trials including civil and criminal matters. He was on the Commission of Judicial Conduct for the State of South Carolina involving discipline matters involving judges of all levels from 1997 to 2001. He is also a member of the South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination (SCCPC). In his position of Assistant Solicitor, Principal Deputy Solicitor, and Solicitor in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, he has prosecuted hundreds of cases and handled over one hundred trials over all types ranging from DUI to Death Penalty cases.

Bryan P. Stirling was confirmed as the Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections by the South Carolina Senate on February 19, 2014. With a staff of 5,000, Stirling is also responsible for roughly 15,500 inmates currently serving time in one of the 21 penal institutions across the state.  

Upon assuming office, Director Stirling oversees an agency that has undergone officer shortages and media scrutiny.  Under Stirling’s leadership, the agency has closed six institutions. The inmate population has declined due to a reduction in the recidivism rates, sentencing reform, successful programs and services within the institutions. Stirling settled a decade old mental health lawsuit that plagued the agency and its leadership.  

Stirling has been recognized for his passion and dedication to improving public safety, as well as, making each institution a safe, secure and productive environment where offenders are given the skills and resources they need for a future that spans far beyond their prison cell.  

In 2016, Stirling received the Stephen G. Morris Nelson Mullins Social Justice Award from the Columbia Urban League and the William D. Leeke Award of Excellence.  

Prior to joining the correctional system, Director Stirling served as Deputy Attorney General for nearly six years. Most recently, he served Governor Nikki Haley as her Chief of Staff from October 2012 to September, 2013, during which he oversaw management of the governor’s cabinet and the Office of Executive Policy and Programs.  Stirling graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1991 and USC’s School of Law in 1996.

BJ Barrowclough serves as the Chief Public Defender for the 16th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Office. He first joined the York County Public Defender Office in 1995 and worked there for five years. He then spent 18 months as an assistant district attorney with the Luzerne County, PA, District Attorney's Office during which time he was part of a three attorney team that was awarded letters of commendation for "Prosecution Team of the Year" for the entire state of Pennsylvania in connection with the prosecution of a double murder case featured on America's Mast Wanted. In 2001 he returned to the York County Public Defender Office and in 2002 was promoted to Deputy a position he held until becoming Circuit Defender in 2020. During that time he defended most of the homicide and high-profile cases in that office. In 2014 he was elected the South Carolina Public Defender of the Year by the Public Defender Association. He served as vice-president of the Public Defender Association from 2002-2008 and in 2020 was appointed to serve on the Board of the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. He also helped coach the Fort Mill High School mock trial team from 2015-2018 including a state championship in 2016. He graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctorate from Boston College and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia.

House of Representatives District 58 Horry County

Admitted to Federal Court and SC State Court

Former SC Army National Guard

SC House Judiciary Committee Member

B.A. Coastal Carolina, 1994

J.D. Mississippi College of Law, 1999

Mrs. Hendrick was born and raised in Columbia, Soutl1 Carolina. She graduated from the University of Georgia, Honors Program in 2002 and the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2005. After graduating law school Mrs. Hendrick worked in the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office until September 2010. She then worked as the Staff Attorney for the Foster Care Review Board and as a SC Department of Social Services County Attorney in Richland, Fairfield and Chester Counties. In January 2015, she returned to the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office to manage the Richland County Family Court Division. In May of2020, Mrs. Hendrick became at attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the SC Department of Administration. On September 22, 2021, she was named the Acting Director of the SC Department of Juvenile Justice.

EDUCATION:
B.A. (Political Science and Psychology), The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (2008).
J.D. Magna Cum Laude, Charleston School of Law, Charleston, South Carolina (2011).

BAR ADMISSIONS:
South Carolina (2011); North Carolina (2012); United States District Court for the District of South Carolina; and Supreme Court of the United States.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Law Clerk to the Honorable Eugene C. Griffith, Jr., South Carolina Judicial Branch (2011 – 2012); South Carolina Office of the Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina: Assistant Attorney General (Post-Conviction Relief Section, 2012 – 2014), Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Appeals Section, 2014 – 2017), and Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General (Post-Conviction Relief Section, 2017 – 2023); Litigation Associate at Crowe LaFave Garfield & Bagley, Columbia, South Carolina (2023); and Legislative Counsel, South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination, Columbia, South Carolina (2023 – Present).

HONORS:
Recipient of the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General Star Employee Award (2018); Recipient of the State of South Carolina Decade of Service Award (2021); and Graduate of the South Carolina Office of the Attorney General Leadership Development Program – Inaugural Class (2022).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
South Carolina Bar Criminal Practice CLE presenter; South Carolina Solicitors’ Conference presenter.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Member, South Carolina Bar Trial and Appellate Advocacy Section; Member, South Carolina Office of the Attorney General Appellate Review Team (2017-2023); Member, South Carolina Office of the Attorney General Information Technology Steering Committee (2020-2023); and Member, South Carolina Office of the Attorney General Accountability Committee (2021-2023).

Robert Dudek is the Chief Appellate Defender for the Office of Appellate Defense, a Division of the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Journalism, and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Rick Hubbard graduated Furman University in 1987 and the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1990. After serving as a law clerk for the Honorable Hubert E. Long and the Honorable William P. Keesley, Rick joined the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office in 1994. In 2002, he became a Deputy Solicitor and was responsible for prosecuting complex and violent felonies, including capital murder cases, and he was tasked with managing the Lexington office. In 2007, Rick was awarded the Ernest F. Hollings Award for Excellence in State Prosecution. In 2015, he joined the South Carolina Attorney General's Office as the Deputy Attorney General of the Criminal Division. In March of 2016, while transitioning into the role as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Rick left the Attorney General's Office to run for Solicitor. In November of2016, Rick was elected Solicitor of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and represents the citizens of Edgefield, Lexington, McCormick, and Saluda Counties. Rick is the current President of the South Carolina Solicitor's Association. 

Stephanie J. Smart-Gittings is a native of Allendale, South Carolina. Her educational milestones include:  1987 Honor graduate of Allendale-Fairfax High School; she attended Palmetto Girls State; she holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from USC-Aiken which she received in 1991; and she holds a Juris Doctor Degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law which she received in 1997. She was admitted to the South Carolina Bar and continues to practice law in South Carolina's 14th Judicial Circuit.

Her service to the State of South Carolina and her community included: a Legislative Aide to Representative Wilbur L. Cave during the 1997 Legislative Session in the South Carolina House of Representatives, appointment to the South Carolina State Board of Education where she chaired the Finance and Legislative Committee and Teacher Recruitment Training and Certification Committee and service on the Hampton County First Steps Board.

Her professional career as an attorney began with her employment as Legal Counsel for South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services in Columbia. Subsequently, she moved back to Allendale in 2000, where she was the Deputy Public Defender for Allendale, Hampton and Jasper Counties; in 2001 she served as An Assistant Public Defender in Beaufort County and returned to the Allendale, Hampton and Jasper office in 2009. In 2016 the S. C.  Commission on Indigent Defense appointed her to serve as the 14th Circuit Chief Public Defender.

She holds social memberships in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the Order of the Easter Star and professional membership in the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
 

William M. Blitch, Jr., JD is currently a Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General with the South Carolina Attorney General's Office and the supervisor of the Office's Criminal Appeals Section.  After graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1998, he began his career in private practice handling real estate and similar matters.  After coming to his senses, he left private practice and joined the South Carolina Court of Appeals as a staff attorney. In May 1999, he began clerking for the Honorable Ralph King Anderson, Jr. of the Court of Appeals.  When his clerkship ended, he became a staff attorney with the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2000.  After two years with the Supreme Court, he returned to the Court of Appeals and became the Deputy Chief Staff Attorney, and later served as the Interim Chief Staff Attorney.  Mr. Blitch joined the South Carolina Attorney General's Office in 2007, where he has handled criminal appeals before both the South Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court and worked with the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He has participated in over 150 oral arguments at the two appellate courts and written countless briefs. Mr. Blitch has spoken at numerous trainings throughout South Carolina on appellate issues, digital evidence, Fourth Amendment, prosecution of sexual abuse, child abuse, and issues related to ICAC, including at the South Carolina Summary Court Judge's Conference, the South Carolina Solicitor's Conference, and numerous CLE trainings throughout the state.