South Carolina H 5194: Midlands Lodge #1 Fraternal Order of Police 50th Anniversary

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5194 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 18, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5194

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A house RESOLUTION

to recognize and honor the police officers of 
Midlands Lodge #1 of the Fraternal Order of Police and to congratulate them 
upon the celebration of the lodge's fiftieth anniversary. 

Whereas, the South 
Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to learn that Midlands Lodge #1 of 
Columbia is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary and was the first lodge to 
form in South Carolina that has stayed active, made up entirely of deputies 
with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department; and

Whereas, these officers 
searched for a national organization to join that would help them in their 
endeavors, and they determined that the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) was the 
only organization that truly consisted of police officers who represented 
police officers; and

Whereas, they contacted 
the North Carolina State Lodge of the FOP, and those FOP members came to discuss 
the FOP with them, after which Lexington County deputies began the work of 
creating a local FOP organization. On February 9, 1976, the first meeting was 
held in which seventy-five Lexington County deputies, out of seventy-eight 
serving the county, became charter members and elected its initial officers: Guy 
Osborne, president; Jack Bowden, vice president; W.T. Scruggs, secretary; and 
John Robinson, treasurer; and

Whereas, on April 22, 
1976, the S.C. Secretary of State issued the Certificate of Incorporation to 
the Midlands Lodge #1, which was known at that time as Lexington County Lodge 
#2 due to an unsuccessful prior effort by Lancaster County Lodge #1 to 
establish an FOP Lodge, and later renamed the FOP Midlands Lodge #1 on January 
24, 1986; and

Whereas, the officers of 
the Midlands FOP began the task of gathering community support and strength 
through numbers. They started raising funds for activities and attorney fees if 
needed, and when their plight became public, support started coming in 
immediately; and

Whereas, around the 
same time that the Midlands Lodge was formed, officers with the Charleston 
County Police Department began searching for a national organization to join. 
They contacted the Georgia State Lodge of the FOP for assistance and discovered 
that Lexington officers had just formed an FOP lodge; and

Whereas, the officers 
from the Charleston County Police Department chartered the Charleston County 
Lodge #3. The officers from both lodges began to share information, and in 
early 1977, officers from Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties formed the third 
lodge called Tri-County Lodge #4; and

Whereas, in April of 
1977, the three FOP lodges in South Carolina took a bold step to form a state 
lodge. The first meeting was held at the Ramanda Inn in West Columbia. The national 
FOP President, Pat Stark, came in to charter the new state lodge and to preside 
over the meeting to elect state officers. The leadership from the three lodges 
met and elected the following officers: State President Guy Osborne, Vice 
President Jim Cleveland, Secretary William Graham, and Treasurer Gilbert Smith. 
James Longo was elected as the first national trustee; and

Whereas, the South 
Carolina House of Representatives values the camaraderie, support, and 
fellowship that the Midlands Lodge #1 has provided for fellow officers for half 
a century, and the members congratulate them for being the longest active lodge 
in the State of South Carolina. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the 
South Carolina House of Representatives, 
by this resolution, recognize and honor the police officers of Midlands Lodge 
#1 of the Fraternal Order of Police and congratulate them upon the celebration 
of the lodge's fiftieth anniversary. 

Be it further resolved 
that a copy of this resolution be presented to Midlands Lodge #1 of the 
Fraternal Order of Police.

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This web page was last updated on February 18, 2026 at 01:06 PM