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COLUMBIA (AP) -- South Carolina's Department of Public Safety has a new leader.

Leroy Smith took the helm Tuesday of the agency that oversees the state Highway Patrol, Transport Police and Bureau of Protective Services.

Smith is a 22-year veteran of Florida's Highway Patrol. Gov. Nikki Haley named him as her pick last month, passing over interim director Col. Kenny Lancaster.

Lancaster had been promoted in June when Haley put former Director Mark Keel in charge of the State Law Enforcement Division. Public safety spokesman Sid Gaulden says Lancaster will resume his job as head of the Highway Patrol division.

The attorney general's office in August began investigating a complaint against Lancaster stemming from an alleged affair. The office informed Keel in a letter last week that it found no prosecutable offense.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)