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South Carolina Secretary of
State Mark Hammond was born in Lancaster, SC November 29th, 1963. He has
been a lifelong resident of Spartanburg, SC where he attended public school
and graduated from Dorman High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree
in Political Science from Newberry College in 1986, and went on to obtain a
Masters in Education from Clemson University in 1988.
Mark Hammond completed special basic training at the South
Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in 1990 and worked as a Criminal
Investigator, aiding prosecutors for the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office,
until 1996. Prior to his service as an investigator, he served as a Juvenile
Probation Officer for the South Carolina Department of Youth Services.
In 1996, Mark was elected as Spartanburg County’s Clerk of
Court - the first Republican to be elected to the position since
Reconstruction. While in office he implemented initiatives that saved
thousands of taxpayer dollars. Mark was re-elected to office in 2000. In
June 2002, Mark won a three-way statewide primary and runoff to be the
Republican Party’s nominee for Secretary of State. On November 5th, 2002, he
was elected as South Carolina’s 41st Secretary of State, leading the
Republican ticket with over 600,000 votes. Four years later, Mark Hammond
again became his party’s nominee for Secretary of State. He went on to claim
victory in November 2006 with 61 percent of the vote, the largest margin of
victory for an opposed statewide elected official.
Secretary Hammond is dedicated to efficiency, accountability,
and customer service. Some of his more notable successes as Secretary of
State include:
- Initiating reforms targeting charity and trademark fraud and
telemarketing abuses, collecting nearly $767,000 in fines;
- Unveiling SC Business One Stop (SCBOS), a Web-based program that
allows users to electronically file corporation, LLC, limited
partnership, limited liability partnership, nonprofit and partnership or
sole proprietorship with five state agencies – the Secretary of State,
the Department of Revenue, the Employment Security Commission,
Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Department of
Consumer Affairs;
- Seizing over $12.5 million in counterfeit merchandise, resulting in
the arrest of 153 people; and
- Continuing the annual Scrooges and Angels list of charities, and
the percentage of receipts that actually go toward the charitable cause.
The main objective of Mark’s second term in office is
to provide businesses and consumers the freedom to file more forms online,
and the ability to conduct business after business hours.
Secretary Hammond is an ex-officio member of the South
Carolina Consumer Affairs Commission and Legislative Council, has served as
Chairman of the International Relations Committee for the National
Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), was recently named Chairman of the
Business Services Committee for NASS. He has served as a Spartanburg GOP
Committeeman, the third Vice President of the South Carolina Association of
Countywide Elected Executives, and the lead delegate to the Republican
National Convention. Mark is a member of the Lions Club, was named an
Outstanding Alumni by the South Carolina Shrine Bowl for Public Service,
received the Sesquicentennial Medal of Honor Award, Outstanding Alumni, Newberry
College, and was selected as a Henry Toll Fellow by the Council of State
Governments.
On a personal note, Mark and his wife Ginny have three
children – Matthew, Ross, and Grace. They are members of St. Paul United
Methodist Church in Spartanburg.
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