COLUMBIA (WACH)-- New leadership will soon take over the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Colonel Kenny Lancaster has announced he is retiring December 27.

The Department of Public Safety announced Monday that Colonel Michael Oliver will take over the patrol on an interim basis. Oliver is a 30-year veteran of the highway patrol.

Colonel Lancaster is leaving under a cloud of controversy.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson investigated Lancaster for an alleged affair in the 1990’s, but decided there was nothing to prosecute and cleared Lancaster of the complaints.