Mark Hammond

Hammond grew up in Spartanburg, where he graduated from Dorman High School.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Newberry College in 1986 and a master's degree in education from Clemson University in 1988.[1]

After completing special basic training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in 1991, he worked as a criminal investigator aiding prosecutors in the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office, which covers Spartanburg and Cherokee counties, until 1996.[1][2] He served as Spartanburg County's Clerk of Court from 1997 to 2002.[1]

Hammond was elected South Carolina's 41st Secretary of State on November 5, 2002, and voters returned him to office in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.[1] His office's biography lists among his accomplishments collecting more than $5.8 million in fines in charity and telemarketing enforcement, online filing and search systems for business entities and Uniform Commercial Code filings, an electronic notarization application, and the Give Smart SC app that lets donors look up registered charities.[1] He has served as liaison to the Notary Public Administrators section of the National Association of Secretaries of State and on several of its committees and task forces.[1][3]

Hammond was elected to the Newberry College Board of Trustees in 2023 and earlier served as a trustee of Spartanburg Methodist College from 2009 to 2015.[1] He and his wife, Ginny, have three children and recently became grandparents, and they are members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg.[1]