After 31 years, Highway Patrol Superintendent Ron Replogle is going to retire.
Gov. Jay Nixon called a Wednesday news conference to announce Replogle's departure on May 1 - and the governor's plan for Maj. Bret Johnson, currently head of the Field Operations Bureau, to be the next patrol commander.
Johnson's appointment must be confirmed by the Missouri Senate. Nixon said he'd make the official nomination next month.
Nixon praised Replogle's five years as commander of "the finest highway patrol in the country, and which is recognized as one of the nation's most respected law enforcement agencies."
The governor said Replogle was someone "who not only embraced the ideals of the Highway Patrol, but lived them each and every day - someone who knew the importance of the patrol's traditions while also continuing to advance the agency to meet the challenges and expectations of the 21st century. ...
"He has always given me his honest counsel, and he's also been a friend."
The patrol requires its officers to retire at 60, but Replogle soon will be only 55. He told reporters he's leaving now for family reasons.
He later told the News Tribune that he and his wife, Cindy, are moving back to Springfield so they can be closer to the family.
"I have a 10-month-old grandson, Will, who's going to get some Grandpa attention come May 1," Replogle said during the news conference. "I'm looking forward to that.
"And my 86 year-old mother lives in Marshfield - her health is declining, and it's my turn to help take care of her."
The highlight of his 31-year patrol career, Replogle said, was every driving arrest he made.
"I made that as a priority when I was a young trooper and I continued to push that as my number one enforcement priority as colonel," he said.
"As far as making our roadways safe, I don't think there's a better arrest that a trooper can make than removing a drunk driver from our roadways. ... I took a lot of pride, that every time you arrested a drunk, you didn't know what life you were saving."
The "two toughest days" of his five-year superintendency, he said, involved telling two families that their sons has been killed in the line of duty - Sgt. Joseph G. Schuengel in a St. Louis County helicopter crash on Oct. 10, 2010, and Trooper Frederick F. Guthrie Jr., who drowned in northwest Missouri flooding on Aug. 1, 2011.
During the news conference, Replogle noted: "The Highway Patrol was my first choice in 1984 - I didn't want to be a police officer anywhere else. It's been a great run.
"Never did I dream that I would get the opportunity to lead this agency - and I just want to thank the governor for giving me that opportunity."
He also noted that Johnson already has been a part of the patrol's command staff.
"I certainly could not have led this agency without the tremendous support, wisdom and guidance of that command staff," he said, adding the decision to appoint Johnson leaves the agency "in good hands."
Nixon noted Johnson, 56 and a 29-year patrol veteran, has commanded the agency's largest division for the five years that Replogle has been superintendent.
The Field Operations Bureau is "where the patrol's rubber meets the road," the governor explained. "It has more than three-quarters of the patrol's 1,250 troopers and more than half of the 1,125 civilian employees."
Posted earlier:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The head of the Missouri State Highway Patrol is stepping down.
Gov. Jay Nixon said Wednesday that Col. Ron Replogle plans to retire May 1 after serving five years as superintendent and 31 years with the patrol.
Nixon said his appointed replacement will be Maj. Bret Johnson, who is commander of the patrol's field operations bureau.
The Highway Patrol has recently been at the center of some contentious situations. Most notably, Nixon directed the patrol to take the lead on security in Ferguson after the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown.
Lawmakers have criticized the Highway Patrol for buying a new airplane used by the governor, for its handling of a merger with the water patrol and for giving a federal investigator a list of Missourians with concealed gun permits.