Public Safety, Dept. of

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) was created in 1973 as part of a comprehensive reorganization of state government. The DPS was originally responsible for the State highway patrol, fire safety and prevention, drug and substance control, motor vehicle licensing and regulation, highway safety, and the State Brand Board. In 1984, the department was abolished, and most of its functions were transferred to the Department of Commerce and Regulation.

In 2003, Governor Rounds resurrected the Department of Public Safety, and gave it authority over the Division of Highway Patrol, the Division of Highway Safety, and the Division of Commercial Inspection and Licensing (which included driver licensing and the office of the fire marshal). Rounds also used the Department of Public Safety to consolidate responsibility for various emergency and disaster response agencies which had previously been administered by separate departments. These agencies include the Office of Emergency Medical Services (formerly Department of Health), the Office of Accident Records (Department of Transportation), the Office of State Radio (Bureau of Information and Telecommunications), and the Division of Emergency and Disaster Services (Department of Military and Veterans Affairs).