COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford tapped the FBI's top agent in South Carolina to run the state's largest law enforcement agency.

James Schweitzer, 51, is the special agent in charge of the FBI's headquarters in Columbia.

The 33-year bureau veteran previously has served as an instruction chief for the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and was chief of the bureau's new agents training pro-
gram.

If the Senate approves Sanford's nominee, he would replace Boykin Rose as director of the Public Safety Department.

Rose was paid $1 a year. Sanford said he'll recommend Schweitzer be paid less than $133,783.

Along with the state Highway Patrol, the agency operates the Bureau of Protective Services, the State Transport Police and the state Criminal Justice Academy.

The governor said Schweitzer's experience better suits him for the job than a number of qualified local sheriff's around the state.

"He had a skill set that incorporated a number of things that we were looking after," Sanford said.

Schweitzer has experience in the state and in coordinating multiagency operations, and he has management background.

"For instance, being head of instruction up at a place like Quantico is of great value when you have ... an academy here in South Carolina that goes on to train so many law enforcement folks from across our state," Sanford said.

And his statewide experience gives him relationships he needs to head the agency, Sanford said.

Another factor was "a pure law enforcement background. ... He's never been elected to anything," Sanford said. It was important people see the new chief as an "honest broker," Sanford said.

Because he's never run for office, Sanford said Schweitzer won't carry political baggage others might in dealing with local law enforcement agencies or public officials.

When "somebody wants to have their roadway protected at [Interstates] 26 or 95, it's not a Republican or Democratic issue," Sanford said.

Schweitzer said he looks forward to using Public Safety's resources to "protect a way of life that the citizens of South Carolina enjoy."

When Schweitzer was asked about the need for more state troopers, Sanford jumped in, noting the state's $350 million projected budget deficit.

"Are we going to try and do better on that front in this administration? Yes. But again, we're digging out of a deep hole, and there are some real needs" apart from law enforcement, including health care, Sanford said.

Sanford's nominee wasn't eager to talk about changes at Public Safety, saying the questions were premature. Schweitzer said any weaknesses he's seen in state law enforcement agencies in the past were made up by strengths in other agencies.

But he would not be specific about the weaknesses.

Schweitzer is "going to be an excellent person to head our Highway Patrol," said Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, a former police officer. "I don't think you could have picked a better choice."

Sanford said during a gubernatorial debate in the 2002 campaign it was "a waste of human life" that so many people were forced to stand in line for hours at the Department of Motor Vehicle offices, which then was under Rose's con-
trol.

The DMV has since become a stand-alone agency that answers to the governor's office.

Schweitzer got his start working in the mail room and became a photographer in the FBI's Tampa, Fla., office.

Schweitzer, a Birmingham, Ala., native has been married for 29 years and has three daughters.