South Carolina Business Review

A judicial solution for the homeless grows across SC

By Mike Switzer

Published December 18, 2025 at 6:30 AM EST

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Kieley Sutton

Kieley Sutton, assistant public defender for the Fifth Judicial Circuit and the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense

While homelessness persists across our state, there are programs that are making a difference and in fact, one such Midlands program that began almost 11 years ago is one that has become a model for cities statewide. Mike Switzer interviews Kieley Sutton, assistant public defender for the Fifth Judicial Circuit and the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. The program she’s involved with is the Columbia Homeless Court.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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