COLOMBIA – The acting director of the South Carolina public security agency easily obtained the approval of senators on March 16 to take office permanently.
The state Senate voted 44-0 to confirm Robert Woods IV as director of the Department of Public Security, long battered.
Woods has been in charge since February 2020, when Governor Henry McMaster asked the Citadel’s 54-year-old graduate to take over temporarily. The governor announced in December that Woods would be his choice for the job.
Woods went through the confirmation process without opposition.
His 30 years of experience at the agency, beginning on the basis of patrolling the Charleston area roads, make him especially suited to the task of increasing hierarchy and raising morale, he told senators at a hearing last month.
“Woods is a proven leader who will take SCDPS to new levels,” said McMaster. “As an interim director, Woods has already implemented innovative policy changes that have yielded positive results.”
Woods replaces Leroy Smith, who announced in the fall of 2019 that he would not seek a third term in office after years of lawmakers calling for his removal.
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