Lincoln County, N.C., officials say McKown was drinking while driving a county vehicle Thursday night in North Carolina, and traveling with a passenger who was smoking crack.

McKown vehemently denied the charges this afternoon before his arrest in York County. He said he simply went to Lincoln County to give a ride home to a friend who’d had too much to drink.

McKown, 39, is currently on probation for a conviction of unlawfully possessing a prescription drug. He was sentenced on May 24, the same day he was acquitted of felony cocaine charges.

Because of his acquittal, he was able to return to the elected post Gov. Mark Sanford suspended him from in 2006.

According to the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, an arrest warrant was issued for him in York County today for the following reasons: • Lying to agent and supervisor about his North Carolina arrest; • Failing to refrain from possessing a firearm; • Failing to immediately notify an agent of his arrest; • Failing to refrain from breaking federal, state or local laws (the North Carolina case); • Failing to refrain from associating with someone who has a criminal record, in this case Eric Howell, the man accused of smoking crack in the county vehicle McKown was driving; • Failure to refrain from leaving the state without permission.

For more, see Saturday's Herald.