Editor’s Note: This is a news analysis.
A longtime officer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) will face no legal consequences after instructing a dispatcher to deliver “false information” to another officer, according to records submitted by the agency.
As for how this largely unclear matter even became known, SCDNR set the story in motion by issuing a vague Facebook post acknowledging the officer’s separation last month.
More specifically, on March 12, 2026, the agency wrote that 1st Sgt. Stephen Bryant — who had been with SCDNR since June 2013 — had been terminated after an internal investigation found “violations of agency policy and conduct unbecoming.”
SCDNR did not, however, offer additional details about its findings, stating only that its officers are “expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity and honesty” and that failure to meet those standards “will not be tolerated.”
It was not until Bryant’s records were pulled from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA) that his underlying conduct came into slight focus.
According to information provided to the SCCJA — which was no more detailed than the agency’s Facebook post — Bryant’s supervisor wrote that he “directly told a SCDNR dispatcher to deliver a false boating call to another officer” on February 2, 2026. The specifics of the call were not detailed.
And that’s it…
The same supervisor, SCDNR officer Eric Martin, made sure to note that producing false...
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