Gov. Mark Sanford has yet to select someone to head the Department of Insurance, nearly six months after the last commissioner resigned from the Cabinet-level post to take a job with a major trade group.

The vacancy is likely the longest time the department has gone without a full-time director at the helm, according to those who work there.

The governor's office said Monday Sanford is only being prudent in making sure his choice is the right one.

Dean Kruger, the insurance department's chief actuary, said he wasn't overly concerned about the length of time without a director, and that such top-level openings aren't uncommon in government.

Still, he suggested that making the choice sooner was better than later.

"There is a lot of responsibility with this position, which is why I'm sure the governor is taking his time," said Kruger, who has been with the insurance department for 15 years. During that time, the longest leadership gap he can recall lasted six weeks.

The department oversees close to 2,000 insurance companies doing business in South Carolina, and which contributed $140 million in taxes to state coffers last year. The position of commissioner, formerly held by Ernst "Ernie" Csiszar, became a Cabinet post in 1995.

In August, Csiszar left the insurance department after five years at the helm to take over as president and chief executive of the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade and lobbying group. At the time, Csiszar also was chairman of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The move drew the ire of consumer groups, who said it was shameful that the country's top state insurance regulator was joining a lobbying group.

Csiszar's departure left Sanford with a void to fill in his 14-member Cabinet.

The governor has said that he is searching for someone with as strong an insurance background as Csiszar, a former chief executive of the Columbia-based Seibels Bruce Group.

Will Folks, a spokesman for the governor's office, said Monday that Sanford is "very deliberative in his decision-making, and given that this (the insurance department) is a well-run organization, it gives him the opportunity to be a bit more deliberative."

Leadership duties at the department have been shared between two top deputies, Gwendolyn Fuller McGriff, who has spent nine years at the department, and Tim Baker who has been there 16 years.

Folks declined to say whether either of the deputies was being considered for the job, adding only that a number of candidates have expressed interest from both inside and outside the department.

"The person he (Sanford) is looking for will represent the views of both the consumer and industry," Folks said. "This is particularly important as it pertains to hurricane and flood issues, and issues along the coast."

Scott Holeman, a spokesman for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, said his organization doesn't determine how long is too long to go without a commissioner. "It's really up to the governor in this case," Holeman said.

Most states, he explained, have a system in which the insurance commissioner is chosen by the governor. A dozen states, however, elect their commissioners, making it tough to compare them all.

"Those states where directors are elected, we'll see them finishing their full terms," Holeman said. "In the other states, it's not unusual to see vacancies from time to time."

Holeman added that Illinois has been operating with an interim commissioner for more than a year, while Oklahoma recently filled its position after months without a head.

Since taking office two years ago, Sanford has had to replace two agency heads, one of them a Cabinet post.

The state's director of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services resigned in September 2003 after it was discovered he had embellished his resume to get the job. Sanford took six months to fill that Cabinet position.

And in July, the governor suspended former agriculture commissioner Charles Sharpe after he was indicted for taking payoffs and using his elected post to protect an illegal cockfighting ring. The governor filled the post by September. Sharpe pleaded guilty last week to extortion and lying to law enforcement authorities.