Roll of Honor

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Deputy Sheriff

Michael Danny Laws

Chester County Sheriff's Dept. — Chester, SC

Accident

End of Watch October 1, 1980

Age 28

Tour of Duty 4 mo

The Vigil Panel 123 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 2

Incident

Deputy Laws was killed in a collision off of Route 1 around 10:45 p.m. His cruiser struck the side of a pulpwood lumber truck at an intersection near the U.S. 321 bypass, turning the truck over and causing both vehicles to catch fire. Deputy Laws had served with the Chester County Sheriff's Department for 4 months.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and son.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-SC-BD04AE49
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Laws served with the Chester County Sheriff's Department.
Thank you for your service to the Chester community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Laws.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Chester County Sheriff's Dept.

Location Chester, SC

Platform Identity ccso.chester.sc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 1, 1980

Tour of Duty 4 mo

Age 28

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff Michael Danny Laws is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In SC, 137 of 438 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Chester County Sheriff's Dept., 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.

Chester County Sheriff's Dept.

of 3 officers

33.3% Accident

SC — Statewide

137

of 438 officers

31.3% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Danny Laws's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Michael Danny Laws Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service

0.3

This officer

Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Danny Laws is highlighted in Oct.

Jan

820

Feb

730

Mar

748

Apr

707

May

847

Jun

795

Jul

897

Aug

937

Sep

913

Oct

925

Nov

872

Dec

897

Others Who Wore This Badge

2 officers from Chester County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw.