Johnny E. Morgan has devoted his career to law enforcement, starting as a patrol officer with the City of Myrtle Beach in 1971. On July 1, 1974, he was hired by Horry County as the 21st officer in Horry County Police Department and has advanced through the ranks from patrolman to chief.

In 1980, Chief Morgan moved from patrolman to the detective division. The duties of Operations/Training Lieutenant accompanied his promotion to Lieutenant in October 1985, the first training officer for the Horry County Police Department. He was an accredited firearms and driving instructor and assisted with training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. In September 1993, he was promoted to major, a position held until he was selected as Interim Chief of Police in March of 2004. As major, he served as commander of both the Uniform Patrol Division and Criminal Investigations. He was officially appointed Chief of Police in September 2004.

For several terms during the early 1980's, he was appointed to serve on advisory boards with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association including the Training, Ethics and Standards Committee. In 1983 he was selected to attend the FBI National Academy and graduated from the 132nd Session.

Chief Morgan has two daughters and a grandson living in North Carolina and a brother residing in Horry County.

Chief Morgan may be contacted at 843-915-8341 or by email at morganj@horrycounty.org