COLUMBIA --- The U.S. attorney for South Carolina said Friday he will step down to lead the State Law Enforcement Division.
Reggie Lloyd, 40, would become the first black to hold the post.
Republican Gov. Mark Sanford made a formal announcement later Friday. Mr. Lloyd's appointment must be confirmed by the state Senate.
Mr. Lloyd was nominated as U.S. attorney by President Bush in December 2005 after being recommended by Sen. Lindsey Graham. He was the first black since Reconstruction to hold that position in South Carolina.
"With both Sen. Graham and the governor, I applaud both of them for being conscious about diversity issues in this state," Mr. Lloyd told The Associated Press. "Their focus is obviously first and foremost, as it should be, on experience and philosophy and intent and what you can do to serve the public. Race really wasn't an issue in that regard."
Mr. Lloyd's U.S. attorney stint was to expire at the end of President Bush's term in office.
"I'm still in love with public service," he told the AP. "I thought about it and prayed about it, and I thought it'd be a great way to continue to service South Carolina."
After graduating from law school at the University of South Carolina in 1993, Mr. Lloyd worked on business litigation at the Columbia firm Nexsen Pruet Adams and Kleemeier before joining then-Attorney General Charlie Condon's staff.
From 1998 to 2000, he worked as the research director and chief counsel to the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee, when he was involved in defending the state's redistricting plan against charges that it was illegally drawn along racial lines.
He was elected to the circuit court bench in 2003, where he served until the president nominated him U.S. attorney.
Mr. Lloyd, who has never served in law enforcement, said his experience working with federal agencies as U.S. attorney would serve him well as SLED chief.
"In this role even, if you see what happened after 9-11, the intersection of the state and federal system, it's something that we deal with everyday" he said.
As U.S. attorney, "I think you're involved in the criminal justice system from a different perspective."
Mr. Lloyd would replace longtime chief Robert Stewart, who announced his retirement in November after leading the agency for 20 years. He has said he plans to start a consulting business.
During Mr. Stewart's tenure, SLED created an automated fingerprint information system, a state DNA database and a computer crime center.
By law, the SLED chief also heads up the state's homeland security efforts.
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