Lingle looks to fill
top posts at Public
Safety as 2 resign

The outgoing director
says the prison system
still needs to improve

The head of the state Department of Public Safety and one of his top administrators are leaving their posts after less than two years on the job.

John Peyton: The former federal prosecutor will rejoin a legal mission in Bosnia

DPS Director John Peyton, a veteran federal prosecutor, said yesterday he will be returning to Bosnia to implement the new nation's Rule of Law administration. Also, John Souza, state sheriff division administrator, plans to return to the private sector.

Previously, Peyton had been vice president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils of Bosnia and Herzegovina, responsible for reforming judicial and prosecutorial functions.

Souza, a former police sergeant and detective, had worked with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when Peyton was an assistant U.S. attorney in Honolulu.

"I came in with John as a team, so I will go back to my private business," a trucking firm, Souza said.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who had appointed both Peyton and Souza last year, said she expects the Public Safety Department to move forward.

"We have worked out a very smooth transition, and we are looking right now for an appropriate replacement," Lingle said.

She declined to say who is under consideration, but noted, "We have a couple of people in mind."

"John has a great group working with him, and he has made some changes," Lingle said.

She added that the state has to "make certain we are getting the programs into the prisons, so I don't want to over-focus on facilities but they are also important."

Peyton had led a review of the state's four prisons and four jails and had urged that the state redo its prison facilities, including tearing down the overcrowded Oahu Community Correction Center in Kalihi.

Yesterday, Peyton said he was not leaving because of a disagreement with the administration, but because he had enjoyed his work with the U.S. State Department in Bosnia and wanted to return.

"Last year, the Legislature approved and the governor authorized money to start planning, and if the Legislature continues to do what it did last year, the system will progress," Peyton said.

"You cannot fix problems overnight that have been festering for 20 years," he added.

No specific time was set for Peyton to leave, but he said that he is expected to return to Bosnia in January.