Col. Roland L. Butler Jr. is out as Maryland State Police secretary, with a former Prince George’s County sheriff and state senator tapped as his replacement, Gov. Wes Moore announced.

Butler, the first Black person to lead the agency, was appointed to the post in February 2023. The circumstances of his departure were not immediately clear, but the Moore administration said he was retiring. Butler declined to comment when contacted by a reporter Friday afternoon.

Lt. Col. Daniel C. Pickett was named interim secretary.

Moore’s pick to replace Butler is Sen. Michael A. Jackson, who has been a Democratic state senator representing Calvert, Charles and Prince George’s counties since 2021. The 61-year-old worked for the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Office for 22 years, serving as its Fraternal Order of Police lodge president for five of those years, and as the elected sheriff from 2002 until retiring in 2010. He then won election to be a state delegate in 2014.

In a statement, Moore called Butler “a true public servant in every sense of the phrase, and our state is safer because of his distinguished leadership.” He called Jackson “an exceptional public servant in his own right” who will “build on the foundation Colonel Butler laid.”

This is the latest departure from a Moore administration that has seen significant turnover this year.

Since January, Moore’s secretaries of commerce, health, appointments, juvenile services, veterans affairs and transportation have left the administration.

Budget Secretary Helene Grady is due to depart soon, as is chief of staff Fagan Harris, who will be replaced by Lester Davis, an experienced political staffer who was most recently with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

Butler was with the state police for three decades, but his selection as secretary was met with skepticism as some wondered if an insider was best situated to lead the agency. Moore nominated Butler to take over a department facing challenges, including a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigation into discriminatory hiring and promotion practices, as well as a lawsuit from Black troopers alleging discrimination in disciplinary decisions. His confirmation was stalled for a month, before he was ultimately approved by the Senate in a 43-4 vote.

In October 2024, the Justice Department’s two-year investigation into discriminatory hiring practices led to a consent decree with state police, which agreed to pay $2.75 million to dozens of aspiring troopers who were rejected due to a discriminatory hiring process.

The state police also said it would rework its testing process for applicants, ditching a widely used generic test in favor of one that will be crafted specifically for troopers.

But in February, the Trump administration abandoned the case, part of a broader effort to roll back initiatives and programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, which Republicans contend threaten merit-based hiring.

As the sheriff for Prince George’s County, Jackson won praise for establishing the first 24/7 Domestic Violence Intervention Unit in the mid-Atlantic region. He also directed the Maryland Community Crime Prevention Institute, the Leadership Development Institute, and the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association, the governor’s office said.

In 2008, the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s department made headlines after SWAT officers raided the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and shot his dogs to death after drug smugglers had sent a package of marijuana there.

The Associated Press reported that Calvo and his family were later cleared of any wrongdoing, with police determining the drug delivery was part of a scheme in which packages were sent to the homes of unsuspecting recipients.

Calvo filed a lawsuit claiming that authorities’ failure to knock or announce their entry, the killing of the dogs and the “degrading detention” of Calvo and his mother-in-law, were the “direct and proximate result of a rogue paramilitary culture” within the Sheriff’s Department.

The county settled the lawsuit and implemented reforms, and the incident also spurred a 2009 state law requiring law enforcement agencies to report on SWAT team deployments and whenever a SWAT team injures or kills a pet.

While running for county executive in 2010, Jackson defended the raid: “We’ve apologized for the incident, but we will never apologize for taking drugs off our streets. Quite frankly, we’d do it again. Tonight.”

Jackson will face a confirmation vote by his soon-to-be-former colleagues in the Senate.

Sen. Cory McCray of Baltimore, a Democrat who serves on the budget committee with Jackson, praised his colleague.

“He’s a colleague grounded in history, lived experience and qualification, and I’m confident he will pair constitutional policing with transparency and community partnership,” McCray said in a text message.

Praise for Jackson came from the Republican side of the aisle, too, with Sen. Steve Hershey saying that Jackson has served “with integrity and distinction” both in the Senate and as sheriff.

But Hershey, the Senate minority leader, raised concern about the “alarming number” of departures from Moore’s team.

“When so many senior officials walk away this early, it’s fair to ask why,” Hershey said in a statement. “Is it exhaustion, disagreement, or frustration with the Governor’s leadership and direction? Whatever the reason, this level of turnover should deeply concern Marylanders who expect steady, competent leadership from the state’s top executive.”

Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this article.