(AP) -- A three-decade South Carolina police veteran has been confirmed as chief of the State Law Enforcement Division.
The Senate confirmed 53-year-old Mark Keel for the state's top law enforcement job with a 33-0 vote Tuesday.
Keel had been director of the state Department of Public Safety since 2008. He replaces Reggie Lloyd who in 2008 became the state's first black SLED director and just the third chief to lead the agency founded in 1947.
Keel joined SLED in 1979 and earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1995. He rose to chief of staff before being appointed to lead Public Safety.
During his confirmation hearing, Keel told senators he'd held just about every job there was at SLED.
The chief's pay currently is $145,000 a year.
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