Morse inducted into state law enforcement Hall of Fame for 44 years of service to Laurens County
October 29, 2026
The late Chief Robin E. Morse, who spent more than four decades protecting the people of Laurens County, was inducted posthumously into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Morse was one of 13 law enforcement professionals honored during the ceremony at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia. He was recognized on behalf of both the Laurens and Clinton police departments, the two agencies he led during his career. Former Greenville County Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown was the other Upstate inductee.
The meritorious service honor is reserved for officers with a proven record of excellence and at least 25 years in law enforcement. Nominees cannot have worked for a law enforcement agency in the past five years, and they may be nominated after their death. Since the first meritorious ceremony in October 2017, 76 officers have been inducted, including this year’s class.
During the ceremony, Robert G. Woods IV, director of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and chair of the Hall of Fame Advisory Committee, called the induction a fitting tribute to the honorees’ service and said he hoped their legacies would inspire future generations of officers.
Morse’s induction comes two years after another Laurens County lawman, former Sheriff R. Eugene Johnson, received the same honor in 2024.
A Clinton native, Morse was the son of the late Tilman “Putt” Morse and Ruby Hawkins Morse. After graduating from Clinton High School, he served six years in the National Guard. He joined the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 13, 1974, and before his first year on the job was over, he was shot in the abdomen in the line of duty. The injury required several surgeries and months of recovery, but he returned to work. In July 2011, 36 years after the shooting, he was awarded the Purple Heart.
Morse spent about two decades with the sheriff’s office and served with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. He then led the Laurens Police Department for 17 and a half years before serving six years as director of the Clinton Department of Public Safety, where he oversaw both police and fire services. After his full-time career ended in September 2018, he continued serving as a Laurens County deputy coroner and as a volunteer with the Joanna and Mountville fire departments.
His influence reached well beyond the county line. Morse graduated from the FBI National Academy, served as president of the South Carolina Police Chiefs’ Association in 2008 and as its secretary-treasurer for seven years. In 2014, the governor appointed him to the Law Enforcement Training Council for the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. He also taught at the academy and at Piedmont Technical College.
Morse was among the first group of first responders inducted into the Laurens County Hall of Heroes, an honor previously reserved for military veterans. In June 2024, first responders from across the county held a parade in his honor outside Prisma Health Laurens County Hospital while he was undergoing cancer treatment. Many of the officers serving in Laurens County today trained under him or under those he mentored.
Morse died Aug. 8, 2024, at age 71 after a battle with cancer. He was a longtime member of Joanna First Baptist Church, where he served as chairman of the deacons and chairman of the safety team. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and children Merial Roberts, Alyssa Longshore, Jessica Sullivan and Eric Morse.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame, created by the General Assembly in 1974, is open to visitors Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
