Richard Scott Joye

July 22, 1962 – April 19, 2023

Richard Scott Joye, 60, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023 in Houston, Texas. Scott was born July 22, 1962, in Georgetown, SC, the son of John Richard Joye and Sylvia Scott Joye.

Scott was a lifelong resident of South Carolina, a loyal Gamecock enthusiast, and enjoyed fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities. He was an ardent supporter of our Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms. As a Program Attorney for U.S. LawShield, Scott has spoken all over the State of South Carolina on gun law issues and stood ready to defend any of its South Carolina members as needed.

Scott is a graduate of Francis Marion University, and the Law School at the University of South Carolina. A member of the South Carolina Bar since 1996, he began his legal career serving the Honorable Sidney T. Floyd as a Law Clerk in the fifteenth Judicial Circuit which encompasses Horry and Georgetown Counties. Upon completion of his clerkship, Scott worked as an Assistant Solicitor, prosecuting cases in Magistrate's Court, Family Court, and the Court of the General Sessions in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit for two years. He returned home to Murrells Inlet, S.C. and opened his own practice in November of 1998. He has successfully defended cases as mundane as a noise ordinance to as serious as murder. He has practiced in all levels of the South Carolina trial courts over the last 19 plus years: Magistrate's and Municipal Courts, Family Court, General Sessions, and Federal Court.

He was recognized as Member of the Year by the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2010 for his efforts in helping other criminal defense lawyers through educational seminars, whether as a course director or through speaking at seminars throughout the state. Scott is a former Council Member of the State Bar Criminal Law Section. He has spoken on criminal defense law topics at continuing legal education seminars in Ohio, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts, and of course, numerous times in South Carolina. Scott received Top Rated Attorney in South Carolina by Lawyer Rating Service, AVVO, every year since 2010 and as a Super Lawyer by "Superlawyers Magazine" every year since 2012. Scott was an Independent Program Attorney for U.S. LawShield with the law firm of Joye, Nappier, Risher, and & Hardin LLC. He was a member of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense, Lawyers Lifetime Benefactor, Charter Member and former Board Member for the DUI Defense Lawyers Association, State Delegate, Sustaining Member and Faculty Member of the National College for DUI Defense, and South Carolina Bar Association Criminal Law Sub-Committee.

Left to cherish Scott's memory are his parents of Murrells Inlet; a son, J.C. Joye of Murrells Inlet, and a daughter, Leigh Anne Joye of Columbia, S.C. Scott was preceded in death by his grandparents Lucius and Eulene Scott and Ernest and Mary Joye.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm Monday, April 24, 2023 at Belin Memorial United Methodist Church, Murrells Inlet, S.C. A reception will be held following the service in the Belin Family Center.

The South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have named a scholarship in honor of Richard Scott Joye for the education of young lawyers. Donations may be made by mailing a check payable to SCACDLEF, P O Box 8353, Columbia, S.C.

Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!  And may there be no moaning of the bar, when I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam, when that which drew from out the boundless deep turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark!  And may there be no sadness of farewell, when I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place the flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crost the bar.

Condolences may be made at www.burroughsfh.com

Burroughs Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Murrells Inlet is assisting the family with arrangements.