SC EQUALITY PAC ENDORSES JUDGE IRV CONDON FOR CHARLESTON COUNTY PROBATE JUDGE

Judge Irv Condon
Probate Judge
Charleston County

Judge Condon has shown tremendous integrity and resolve in his public service. On October 6, 2014, the US Supreme Court confirmed the law of the 4th Federal Circuit Court and South Carolina includes same sex marriage. On October 8, Probate Judge Irvin Condon accepted a marriage license application presented by a female couple. No other probate judge in the state processed marriage license applications. He was sued by the State of South Carolina and required by the South Carolina Supreme Court to halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

That couple, Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley, represented by South Carolina Equality and Lambda Legal, filed suit in federal district court seeking the right to marry. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel ruled for the Plaintiffs. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court denied the state’s request for a stay, and marriage licenses were issued starting in November 2014. On December 1, Wilson asked the Fourth Circuit to suspend proceedings in this case pending U.S. Supreme Court scheduling hearing in Obergefell, which was heard in 2015 and changed the laws of the entire country. If it were not for Judge Irv Condon, South Carolina would not have gotten marriage equality in 2014 and the US Supreme Court may not have decided Obergefell that soon.

Judge Irvin G. Condon was first elected Charleston County Probate Judge in November 1994. During his more than 20 years of service, Judge Condon has worked with dedication and innovation to make the Charleston County Probate Court a national model of excellence.

Visionary
Judge Condon led the planning team and started the Charleston County Adult Drug Court in 1999 and has presided over the court since its inception. Judge Condon is implementing a Veterans Treatment Court as part of the Adult Drug Court. Associate Probate Judge Peter Kouten, a Marine Corps veteran, will preside over this court.

Judge Condon also led the planning team for the Charleston County Mental Health Court, which began in January 2003. Associate Probate Judge Tamara Curry presides over this court. Judge Curry is also now serving as the first African-American president of the National College of Probate Judges. In 2010, Judge Condon also began presiding over the Ninth Circuit Juvenile Drug Court.

Helper
In addition to making Charleston County a leader in the creation of problem solving courts, Judge Condon has received national recognition by participating in cutting-edge programs assisting incapacitated adults under guardianship and conservatorship. In 2011, the American Bar Association selected the Charleston County Probate Court as one of two courts in the nation to participate in a pilot project providing assistance and monitoring for incapacitated adults and their guardians. Students from the Charleston School of Law serve as volunteer court visitors. Courts in South Carolina and nationally have adopted this program. In 2018, the National Center for State Courts selected the Charleston County Probate Court as one of two courts in the nation to pilot the rapid response conservator program. The program will use state-of-the-art software to monitor spending by conservators on behalf of incapacitated adults along with the annual accountings.

Judge Condon offers free workshops to the public on the estate administration process on the first Monday of each month. He also assisted the family members of the Charleston Nine and the Emmanuel Nine with the probate process.

Leader
Judge Condon has been a leader in South Carolina and nationally in many organizations involving his court. Judge Condon is past president of the National College of Probate Judges, the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges, the National Guardianship Association, and the Congress of State Associations of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He is currently president of the South Carolina Association of Drug Court Professionals and the James Hoban Society. James Hoban was the architect of Charleston County’s historic courthouse and the White House.

He also is a member of the Charleston County Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar, the American Bar Association, the South Carolina Association of Probate Judges, the National College of Probate Judges, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the National Guardianship Association, the South Carolina Association of Drug Court Professionals, and the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

Judge Condon has been a faculty member and frequent speaker for the National Judicial College, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the National Drug Court Institute, the National Business Institute, the Charleston School of Law, West Virginia University’s Master of Legal Studies online program, and for numerous civic and charitable organizations. Judge Condon serves on the planning committee for the Medical University of South Carolina Attorneys and Judges Substance Abuse Annual Seminar. Judge Condon, the Charleston County Probate Court, and the Mills House Hotel have partnered on an annual probate seminar for more than 20 years to raise funds for portraits and furnishings for the courthouse and funds for housing, bus passes and related needs for citizens in the problem solving courts.

Law Practice and Education
Before his election, Judge Condon was a shareholder in the law firm of Rosen, Rosen & Hagood, P.A., in Charleston where he practiced probate and business law. Judge Condon earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Judge Condon is a Certified Public Accountant and worked for McKnight Frampton and Price Waterhouse for three years before going to law school. He attended the College of Charleston and received his B.S. degree in accounting, magna cum laude, from Clemson University. Judge Condon also was admitted to the MBA Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania but chose to work for Price Waterhouse followed by law school. He is a graduate of Bishop England High School.

Family
Judge Condon grew up in Charleston as the seventh of ten children born to Harriet Molony Condon and the late J. Joseph Condon, who was the president of Condon’s Department Store, the family business founded in downtown Charleston in 1896. His godparents are the late Michael L. Runey and the late Marion Molony O’Brien. He and his wife, Michelle Mensore Condon, an attorney originally from New Martinsville, W.Va., have a 10-year-old son. They are members of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston.