He won't be nominated, officially, until next month.
However, as he awaits possible confirmation by the state Senate, the man who would be the next head of the Missouri Highway Patrol already has ideas about what his top priorities would be once he takes over the position.
Gov. Jay Nixon last week named Maj. Bret Johnson to replace Col. Ron Replogle as patrol superintendent when Replogle retires May 1.
Johnson, 56, sees the biggest challenge facing the patrol as recruiting.
"We are trying to recruit from the same pool as law enforcement agencies in St. Louis and Kansas City," he said. "Those that go to work for those agencies could live in the same house and stay with that agency for several years. That's not the case for the patrol.
"Even though there is a perception that new patrol officers don't get to go where they want, 98 percent of recruits actually get their first or second choice of the troop they are assigned to," he said.
Johnson also intends "to work more on minority recruitment, concentrate on colleges and getting younger people in the fold. It costs a lot to put a person through our academy," he said.
"If they work for us for 30 years, that's a lot better investment for us than getting people from other agencies or retired from the military, although they are good people - but that reduces their longevity with the patrol."
Johnson said he wants to move more funding for recruiting into the patrol's budget.
"Fees and taxes that are going to highways are antiquated because vehicles get better mileage - so there's less money to fund roadwork, and that also affects us," he said. "People don't realize that 70 percent of our budget comes from highway funds.
"It's something that we have to watch and make sure we do more with less. MoDOT has their new plan to do more for less for maintenance and construction, and from our side, we see newer roads as safer."
He said MoDOT's less money for road improvements likely means "highways will be less safe - and we'll get more calls for service. It's hard for us to say we need to cut personnel if we're planning that our calls for service will be greater, not fewer."
In additon to those challenges, the Highway Patrol has come under the scrutiny of the General Assembly on several issues.
In recent years, the Highway Patrol has been criticized for buying a new airplane in 2013 that mostly is used by the governor, for its handling of a merger with the formerly independent Water Patrol and for giving a federal investigator a list of Missourians with concealed gun permits.
None of those issues were discussed during the governor's news conference last week, when Nixon announced Replogle's retirement and Johnson's appointment, nor in detail in recent News Tribune interviews with Johnson and Replogle.
Johnson noted Friday: "We are doing a complete review of our marine or water patrol responsibility, and we'll get a report back in the spring to see if any changes should take place."
As a member of Replogle's command staff, Johnson has been involved with the changes Replogle made during five years as superintendent - so it won't be like a new person coming in wanting to make a lot of changes.
However, in a separate interview last week, Replogle offered some words of advice for Johnson.
"The reality of the buck stopping there - as Harry Truman would say - is probably the thing that hit me the hardest (five years ago)," Replogle said. "As a major and a staff member, you make a recommendation to the colonel about what you think should be done, or how it should be done.
"And that "buck' does stop at the colonel's desk - and those are tough decisions sometimes. And Bret knows that. He'll be prepared for that. But that's why we've got seven other people on that (command) staff, to give good advice to the colonel, to make the best decisions for the patrol and, ultimately, for the citizens of Missouri."
In light of what people saw in Ferguson last year, Johnson said he realizes the perception of law enforcement has taken a hit.
"When you look at many of the mistrust issues, it occurs when revenue is tied to enforcement," Johnson said. "None of our money we generate comes from revenue from tickets. What we do goes to the school system. We do not have an incentive for employees to write a certain number of tickets to get revenue for the agency.
"Doing away with those departments funded with more revenue from more enforcement would help this situation."
The 29-year patrol veteran has been in command of the patrol's largest division, the Field Operations Bureau, for the last five years. He has been in command of the nine patrol troops, with 925 to 950 road troopers statewide, along with personnel in the driver exam and motor vehicle inspections offices.
"I've been working in Jefferson City since 1999 and have worked under three different superintendents - and that has helped prepare me to become superintendent," Johnson said.