Posted on: Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Two top administrators quitting Department of Public Safety

Associated Press

Two top administrators in the department that oversees Hawai'i's prisons have resigned after less than two years on the job.

Department of Public Safety Director John Peyton, who has done legal work in Bosnia, said he will return there to help out with that nation's legal system. John Souza, administrator of the state sheriff division, is planning to return to the trucking business.

Gov. Linda Lingle had appointed both Peyton and Souza last year.

"We have worked out a very smooth transition, and we are looking right now for an appropriate replacement," she said Monday. "We have a couple of people in mind."

Peyton, a former federal prosecutor, was previously responsible for reforming judicial and prosecutorial functions as vice president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Souza, a former police sergeant and detective, had worked with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI 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," Souza said.

Peyton had urged the state to redo its prison facilities and to tear down the crowded O'ahu Community Correction Center in Kalihi, after leading a review of the state's four prisons and four jails.

He said Monday that he was leaving 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 said.

While no timetable was set for Peyton to leave, he said he is expected to begin work in January to implement a rule of law administration in Bosnia.