Brent Kelly has several jobs — but he doesn’t consider any of them work. 

“I guess you could say work is my hobby,” he grinned. “But to me, it’s not like work.” 

For his full-time “hobby,” Kelly is the Special Programs Manager in the Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs. Among his responsibilities are the office’s statistics section, traffic records, the SC Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame, and the SC Law Enforcement Networks (SCLEN), a network of local, county and state agencies who work together in tandem promoting education and coordinating enforcement efforts. 

Before his time with OHSJP, a division of the Department of Public Safety, he spent seven years as a county sheriff’s deputy before joining the SC Highway Patrol in 2007. In 2011, he accepted a position as the Community Relations Officer (CRO) for Troop 1, which includes Richland, Lexington, and Kershaw counties. Two years later, he joined the Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs as a law enforcement liaison. He enjoyed being in the CRO Unit but viewed the OHSJP position as an opportunity that was given to him.

“Initially, the position was posted but never filled,” Kelly said. “When I learned it had been reposted, I took it as an opportunity from God. He opened that door, and He gave me the opportunity to take it.” 

Another opportunity presented itself just a couple of years after he became a trooper.

“I was patrolling one day in Kershaw County, and I saw the owner of the funeral home working a service at a church,” Kelly recalled. “I pulled up there to speak to him, and he said, ‘Hey, would you be willing to come over and work with us?’ That’s how it started — I just stopped by to speak to him.”

Kelly’s duties at the funeral home range from assisting families and visitors during services, to driving the hearse, to picking up remains at the hospital. His work schedule as a trooper allowed him to spend off days working at the funeral home. Although working at a funeral home might seem to some like a dreary profession, Kelly sees it as a blessing. 

“It’s an opportunity to work with so many different people, and so many different lifestyles,” he said. “I look at it as a ministry, because I am there to offer support and guidance to a family that is experiencing one of the most difficult times of their life. It’s similar to law enforcement in that way.”

Although much of Kelly’s work stemmed from opportunity, his work as a high school football official was born of frustration. An avid football fan, he had toyed with the idea of officiating games after getting aggravated with some of the bad calls he’d seen others make. 

“We can sit up in the stands or watch at home on the couch and think we are the best officials out there,” he said of his newest hobby. “I decided, because I can sit there and criticize the officials, why don’t I just go out and do it?”

Kelly went through the training and started officiating high school games in 2018. Now that he’s actually experienced what it means to be on the field, he admits that he is far more understanding — and forgiving — when it comes to bad calls.

“Now that I am a part of them, I know what they experience when they are on the field,” he said. “It’s totally different when you are on the field, watching the games live. We don’t have the view that people sitting up in the stands have, or the replay that those on TV do. I have more respect for officials now that I am a part of it.”

Much like being an officer of the law, part of being an objective football official and earning trust and credibility from fans is owning up to those mistakes. Wrong calls are a part of the game, so Kelly makes sure that apologizing is part of his work. 

“There have been times where I know I missed something, so I’ll go up to the coach and apologize,” he said. “I’ve had other officials tell me, ‘You don’t have to apologize to coaches.’ Well, that’s just not my nature. If I mess up, I’m going to apologize to them.”

That sense of right and wrong extends far beyond Kelly’s work in law enforcement and high school football, and it’s something he tries to impress in his favorite job.

“This may sound sentimental, but my favorite job is being a dad,” he said. “I’m not just a father, but also a mentor.”

While he works hard to be the best version of himself, and to serve as an example for his three daughters, Kelly said family always comes first. 

“I don’t let my hobbies take away from my girls,” he said. “If they have something happening on a Friday night, I’m not going to go work a football game. I’m going to be there for my girls.”

In whatever he is doing, and whatever hat he is wearing, at the forefront of Kelly’s mind is always one thing.  

“I view everything as a contribution to the community,” he said. “My goal is to go out there and help others, so I do.”