Woods goes from interim to permanent Public Safety director

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)– The South Carolina Senate has unanimously approved the governor’s nomination of a nearly lifelong member of the Highway Patrol to lead the state Department of Public Safety. Robert Woods IV can now take interim off his title as he runs the agency that oversees the Highway Patrol and Statehouse security. Woods has been doing the job for about a year after the previous nominee withdrew. By December, the governor convinced Woods to seek the job on a more permanent basis. Woods has worked for the agency for 29 years, except for a brief stint as a Charleston police officer early in his career, rising to a major overseeing the Highway Patrol’s administration.