Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent Sandra Karsten will take on additional duties temporarily as the Missouri Public Safety Department's acting director, Gov. Mike Parson announced Friday.
Parson said Charles A. (Drew) Juden, the current DPS director, is leaving his job at the end of August.
Kelli Jones, the governor's spokeswoman, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the governor "was just looking for a different approach" and that there was no specific event or policy decision by Juden that led to Parson's move to look for a new director.
"As a former law enforcement officer, the governor was just wanting to go in a different direction," Jones told the Post-Dispatch.
She didn't offer more specifics and did not respond to requests from the News Tribune and Associated Press for more information.
Juden had been the focus of some complaints late last year when he reported to then-Gov. Greitens about finding no problems in the operations of the St. Louis Veterans Home, while family members of some of the residents were telling then-Lt. Gov. Parson's office of major issues with those operations.
Parson said Friday, in his news release announcing the change: "Drew is a well accomplished public servant. We appreciate his time and service to the state of Missouri and wish him well in the future.
"Col. Karsten has a long track record of being a top-notch professional and an exemplary public servant. We are confident in her leadership during this transition."
In the governor's news release, Karsten said: "Gov. Parson asked if I would be willing to assist during the department's transition, and I am more than happy to help. Ensuring the public's safety has been a top priority in my 33-year career in law enforcement, and it always will be."
Former Gov. Eric Greitens named Karsten to head the patrol in February 2017, after former Superintendent J. Bret Johnson retired.
Juden, 61, was Greitens' pick to head Public Safety.
He came to Jefferson City from Sikeston, where he most recently was director of the city's Department of Public Safety.
He had served in Sikeston since 1978 and was one of the department's first three Public Safety officers.
Prior to his becoming Sikeston's Public Safety director, he had served as commander of the department's separate Fire and Police divisions and had developed many courses in Fire Science and Criminal Justice.
Juden is a certified instructor at both the state and national levels and was Sikeston's first training officer.
Mike O'Connell, a department spokesman, said Juden has not announced his future plans.
Parson said the state Public Safety Department "plays a critical role in our state" and said he is working to appoint a new director "in the near future."