South Carolina’s top FBI official has been tapped to lead the state’s biggest police agency.

James Schweitzer, 51, is Gov. Mark Sanford’s choice to head the state Department of Public Safety.

Sanford announced the nomination Wednesday and said the time Schweitzer, who has led the FBI in South Carolina since May 2002, has spent in the state is an asset.

“You could have somebody very capable from New York or from Texas, but they wouldn’t know some of the people and some of the places that Jim has gotten to know over the last couple of years that he’s been here,” Sanford said.

The Department of Public Safety includes the state Highway Patrol, the police academy, state trucking regulators and a division responsible for the security of state officials and many state buildings.

The nomination requires Senate approval. If given the job, Schweitzer will succeed DPS director Boykin Rose. Earlier this week, Sanford said Rose would remain director for another month while the nominee goes through the confirmation process.

“I don’t personally foresee any problem whatsoever with him being confirmed,” said Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington.

Knotts praised Schweitzer’s law enforcement experience.

Dodge Frederick, former special agent in charge of the Columbia office, lauded Schweitzer’s ability to forge relationships with other law enforcement agencies.

“I’ve never heard an unkind word about the way James ran things and his relationship with other agencies,” Frederick said.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said his agency has worked well with the FBI under Schweitzer’s leadership.

Before coming to South Carolina, Schweitzer was also chief of instruction at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and special agent in charge in Jacksonville, Fla. He has spent 33 years with the agency.

If confirmed, one issue Schweitzer could face is increasing the number of state troopers patrolling the highways.

In 2003, the Highway Patrol employed 152 fewer state troopers compared with 2000.

Reach Gonzales at (803) 771-8405 or jgonzales@thestate.com.