The Hon. Robert E. Ferguson, Jr., is a magistrate for the Beaufort County Summary Court in South Carolina.
The summary court presides over landlord/tenant hearings, summons and complaint cases (to claim disputed funds), claim and delivery cases (to reclaim property), and public sales of abandoned vehicles. Its magistrates also hear criminal and traffic cases, issue warrants and set bonds, and hold preliminary hearings and transfer cases for the county.
Prior to his appointment, Ferguson was a partner at Ferguson & Ferguson, a law firm he established in 2018. Before that, he spent time as a sole practitioner in his own private practice (2012 to 2016). He has specialized in criminal defense matters, supplementing his practice with service as the deputy public defender for the 14th Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office.
Ferguson earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Clemson University in 2002. He then completed a master’s degree in environmental law at the Vermont Law and Graduate School (2006) and a J.D. at the University of South Carolina School of Law (2006).
After graduating from law school, Ferguson began his legal career as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. John C. Hayes, III, of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court of South Carolina. He served in that capacity until 2007, at which time he became an assistant solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
His memberships have included the South Carolina Bar Association, the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Beaufort County Bar Association, and the Hilton Head Island Bar Association.
Ferguson and his wife, Katherine, have two sons. The family attends Sea Island Presbyterian Church on Lady’s Island.