MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
A Division Of The
Department of Public Safety
Public Information and Education Division - PO Box 568 - Jefferson City, MO 65102
NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Lt. John J. Hotz
Q21115-3 (573) 526-6115

February 11, 2015
EMPHASIS: Colonel Ron Replogle Retires May 1, 2015


Colonel Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, announces he will retire effective May 1, 2015, after 31 years of dedicated service. The announcement was made in Governor Jay Nixon's office.

“Col. Replogle has been every bit the leader that I expected– demonstrating courage, conviction, intelligence, and integrity,” Gov. Nixon said. “Ron Replogle and the Patrol have continued to lead – not just on the roads and in criminal investigations, but through fire and ice, floods and a record drought, a historic snowfall that closed Interstate-70, one of the largest and deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history, and assisting local law enforcement agencies across the state in their times of need. I congratulate Ron on a tremendous job, and thank him for his service to the people of Missouri.”

Gov. Nixon praised Replogle not only for his leadership during times of the many and varied natural disasters to impact Missouri since 2010, but also for the Patrol’s nationally recognized work by taking drunk drivers off the road, and the work of troopers over several months in assisting St. Louis-area law enforcement during recent civil unrest.

Gov. Nixon said he would submit the name of 28-year Patrol veteran Major J. Bret Johnson to the Missouri Senate in March for confirmation as the next superintendent.

Johnson, a native of Unionville, is currently the commander of the Patrol’s Bureau of Field Operations, a division that includes more than three-quarters of the Patrol’s 1,250 troopers and more than half of its more than 1,250 civilian employees. He was appointed to the Patrol in August 1986 and moved up through the ranks before being promoted to major in 2007. Johnson has played a key command role in the Patrol’s day-to-day operations as well as during the Patrol’s response to provide local assistance.

“During the years I’ve been governor, I’ve seen Bret Johnson provide outstanding leadership and service to Missouri when it was needed most,” Gov. Nixon said. “I am proud to nominate him to be the next superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, where I know he will carry on in the finest tradition.”

Johnson currently resides in Jefferson City with his wife, Cindy. They have two adult sons, one of whom is a corporal in the Patrol.

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