Richland County Sheriff’s Department now has an official prayer

December 19th, 2025

By: W. Thomas Smith Jr.

Inspired by a century-old Texas Rangers’ prayer, W. Thomas Smith Jr. crafted a modern invocation for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, reflecting faith, courage and service in 2025

Recently when Columbia, South Carolina writer W. Thomas Smith Jr. was reading a few books about the history of the famed Texas Rangers, he came across the Texas Rangers’ Prayer, composed in the early 20th century (no specific date recorded) by the Rev. Pierre Bernard Hill.

The prayer was short, as much poetry as it was (and is) prayer, but beautiful and typical of rhythmically similar verses composed in the 1920s and 1930s. Smith was struck by its simplicity and he immediately considered such a prayer for his own Richland County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina, where he has served as a special deputy and a member of the Public information Office for nearly 10 years.

“I thought to myself why not a prayer written in the language of 2025 for the not quite as well known but also elite Richland County Sheriff’s Department [RCSD],” said Smith.

Elite indeed. RCSD is one of the regularly featured law enforcement agencies on the hit television docuseries “On Patrol: LIVE.” They were part of “LIVE PD” throughout the life of that program. And the department’s investigators were the subject of a NETFLIX miniseries, “Missing Dead or Alive.” Moreover, RCSD’s Sheriff Leon Lott was named National Sheriff of the Year in 2021 by the National Sheriff’s Association, and Lott was twice named S.C. Sheriff of the Year by the S.C. Sheriff’s Association.

“I wanted this prayer to be something that reflected who our men and women are as deputy sheriffs and the absolute necessity of God’s Hand in all they do,” said Smith, a formerly deployed U.S. Marine Infantry leader and a 2025 inductee in the S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame. “Prayer is powerful and frankly vital.”

Smith, an ordained Presbyterian deacon who was raised Southern Baptist, says he was careful to protect the sensibilities of all faiths. A New York Times bestselling editor and a writer whose work has appeared in USA TODAY, U.S. News & World Report, the AP, and even once sharing a byline in GEORGE magazine with the late John Kennedy Jr., Smith says this deputy prayer may be his most-important work yet.

“This official RCSD prayer is for all who read it, but specifically written as the Richland County Deputy’s appeal to God for strength, courage, and temperance,” he said. “There is nothing more important than that.”

RCSD Deputy Chief Maria Yturria says: “The prayer is beautiful, covering everything and speaking to virtually every weighty responsibility we hold as law enforcement officers and leaders.”