DPS HEAD TO BE NAMED BY JANUARY

Gov. Gary Johnson said Thursday he plans to name a new head for the
Department of Public Safety before the next legislative session and that he
is open to reorganizing the agency.

On Wednesday, Johnson named State Police Chief Frank Taylor, 52, as acting
Public Safety secretary to replace Darren White, 36, who had headed the
agency since 1995. White resigned earlier this week, saying Johnson's
support of legalizing drugs had made his job impossible.

Taylor also opposes drug legalization but he said he had been reassured by
Johnson that he did not expect his Public Safety chief to agree with him on
the drug issue.

Johnson said Thursday that Taylor's appointment as acting secretary was an
interim measure.

"I don't know of Frank wanting the job," Johnson said.

"So at this point he's not someone who's submitted his name as being
interested."

Taylor also described his appointment as acting Public Safety secretary as
temporary. "It's an interim position," Taylor said in an interview. "I
still have my position as chief. I'll just be acting secretary until the
governor and his staff make a decision."

Johnson said Thursday he was considering several candidates to head the
department but declined to release any names. The governor said he expected
to make a decision before the start of the next 30-day regular legislative
session, which begins Jan. 18.

"There are those that are interested in the job, and I'm actually kind of
thrilled with the individuals that are interested," Johnson said in an
interview. "I mean, I know of them. I know that they're qualified and so
it's kind of exciting."

On a related topic, Johnson said he would consider reorganizing the
Department of Public Safety, which is being pushed by some key legislators.

"My mind is open," Johnson said in the interview. "I don't understand what
the benefits would be, if there would be. But, again, (I'm) open to those
discussions."

Some legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem Manny Aragon,
D-Albuquerque, want to revamp the Department of Public Safety and create a
separate Department of State Police. The new agency, which would include
the Motor Transportation Division, would be headed by a Cabinet-level
secretary who is a State Police officer.

The Law Enforcement Academy, which is currently within the Department of
Public Safety's Training and Recruiting Division, would be operated
separately under the oversight of a board.

However, no reorganization proposal has been agreed upon to be considered
during the upcoming legislative session.

Taylor said he likes the idea of removing the State Police from the
Department of Public Safety.

"The main thing that I'm concerned with is to try to keep the State Police
as nonpolitical as possible," said Taylor, who has been a State Police
officer in New Mexico for nearly 26 years. "I've seen a lot of the
controversies that have come and gone with State Police being involved in
other agencies."