Interim DPS Director Named

Longtime Texas Department of Public Safety Director Tommy Davis resigned this summer in the wake of a scathing Sunset Review of the department and the DPS's failure to protect the Governor's Mansion from arson. Today, the Public Safety Commission (the oversight body of the DPS) announced Davis' interim replacement will be Major Stan Clark of the DPS's Highway Patrol division. Press release from the DPS follows:

Public Safety Commission names interim DPS director

The Texas Public Safety Commission has named Texas Highway Patrol Major Stan Clark of Garland as the interim director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. His appointment is effective September 1, 2008 and will continue until a permanent director is named.

“I am pleased to announce that Major Clark is our choice for interim director of DPS,” said Allan Polunsky, chairman of the Public Safety Commission. “Major Clark is committed to implementing the commission’s vision for the most modern state police force in the country.”

Polunsky said that the Commission will take the time necessary to make a judicious, informed decision in selecting a permanent director.

“We will conduct an extensive, thorough search for a new director. Major Clark may want to submit an application for the permanent position, but his appointment as interim director does not give him an advantage in the selection process,” he said.

Clark, who has been with DPS since 1973, has served as the commanding officer of the Highway Patrol in DPS Region 1 (Northeast Texas) since September 2003.

“I am honored by the confidence that the Commission has placed in me,” Clark said. “The men and women of DPS make up one of the best police agencies in the nation, and I look forward to leading them toward being even greater.”

Clark joined the DPS in June 1973 and was stationed with the Highway Patrol in Tyler when he graduated from the DPS recruit school. He promoted to sergeant with the Highway Patrol in 1980 and was stationed in McAllen until he transferred to Tyler in September 1983. He promoted to Highway Patrol lieutenant in October 1993 and remained in Tyler. Clark promoted to Captain and transferred to the Capitol Police in Austin in 1996, where he remained until he transferred to the Highway Patrol in Beaumont in 1998. He was appointed as a Major with the Highway Patrol and moved to the Chief’s office at DPS headquarters in Austin in 1999. He remained at headquarters until he transferred to Region 1 headquarters in Garland in 2003.