The longtime aide-de-camp to former South Carolina Senate president Glenn McConnell has returned to the Senate under new president Hugh Leatherman.
John Hazzard – who lost his job as the S.C. Senate judiciary committee’s top staffer last year – has been hired as a “special counselor” to Leatherman.
His employment with the Senate begins this week …
One source familiar with the situation described Hazzard’s job as a “totally new and made up position.”
Hazzard has spent the last few months working in the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson.
“John has been a valuable member of our team and a dear friend,” Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle told us. “We understand why the Senate wants him back. We know he’ll continue to do a great job for them just as he’s done for us.”
It’s not clear how much taxpayers will shell out for Hazzard’s salary at the Senate. He was paid $150,500 (not counting benefits) at the attorney general’s office.
The State Senate received $14.6 million in the budget that went into effect on July 1. That’s an increase of $400,000 from the prior fiscal year.
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