ATLANTA - Georgia has a new homeland security director. <br>
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Governor-elect Sonny Perdue named retired Georgia State Patrol Major Bill Hitchens Junior to the post Thursday. Hitchens replaces Robert Hightower, who was appointed to the job by outgoing Governor Barnes. <br>
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Perdue also announced an organizational reshuffling for two top state law enforcement agencies. <br>
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Perdue says there will no longer be an overall state Department of Public Safety. Instead, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol now will be independent of each other. They will report to Perdue's chief operating officer, Jim Lientz. <br>
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The governor-elect says he'll be keeping several top law enforcement officials from the Barnes' administration. Those include GBI's current acting director Vernon Keenan, State Patrol commander George Ellis and the state's adjutant general Major General David Poythress.
