FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 6, 2003

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

HIGHWAY PATROL COMMANDER MIKE KELLEY RETIRES;

RUSSELL ROARK PROMOTED TO COLONEL

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has announced that Col. Mike Kelley, commander of the South Carolina Highway Patrol since 2001, is retiring. Kelley announced his plans for retirement after the Highway Patrol graduation ceremonies today. Lt. Col. Russell Roark, currently serving as second-in-command, has been promoted to Colonel.

Kelley, who was named commander of the South Carolina Highway Patrol in June 2001, has been with the Highway Patrol since 1974. He began his service with the Patrol as a telecommunications operator in 1973 before attending Patrol school in 1974 with his first assignment in Richland County. He served as lieutenant over Patrol Supply from 1994-1999 when he was promoted to captain. In May 2000, he became lieutenant colonel.   

“I am grateful to Mike Kelley for the outstanding job he has done creating a more efficient and accountable Highway Patrol and taking proactive steps toward reducing fatalities on our highways,” said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. “He is well-respected by the troopers he has ably led through budget crises, two line-of-duty trooper deaths and many other challenges at the helm of the Patrol.”

Some of the highlights of Kelley’s tenure as colonel include: the conversion from a district to a troop structure, which allows for around-the-clock trooper coverage in every county in the state. There were 13 counties under the old structure that did not have full-time coverage. The Patrol also created an insurance enforcement team to remove uninsured drivers from the road, a DUI enforcement team and a school bus safety enforcement unit. The Patrol ACE team also made headlines under Kelley’s leadership for a number of sizable drug seizures on the state’s highways.

“It has been an honor to wear the Highway Patrol uniform for nearly 30 years,” Kelley said. “I have the utmost respect for the troopers who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect and serve the citizens of South Carolina. Lt. Col. Roark is a conscientious and hard-working leader who I am proud to have as my successor. I am confident in his abilities to continue improving our service to the people of South Carolina.”

Roark was captain in Highway Patrol District One from 1999-2001 when he became lieutenant colonel. He has been with the Highway Patrol since 1982 when he was hired in Sumter County. Roark was promoted to corporal in Richland County in 1989, sergeant in Sumter County in 1993 and lieutenant in District One in Columbia in 1995.

A native of Union, Roark and his wife, Sandi, and son, Connor, currently reside in Sumter County. 

Capt. Harry Stubblefield will be promoted to lieutenant colonel, serving as Roark’s second-in-command

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