Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley has resigned effective Feb. 15 to pursue private sector opportunities, it was announced.
The current chief deputy commissioner, Jim Donelon, will take over as commissioner until a special election is held in the fall, officials said.
Mr. Wooley was first named acting commissioner in October of 2000 following the conviction of his predecessor, Jim Brown, on charges of lying to the FBI. He assumed the full duties of the office in April of 2003, and won election the following November.
In addition, the two commissioners preceding Mr. Brown also were convicted of corruption-related crimes.
"By correcting the department's problems of the past and restoring its credibility, we were better prepared for the impending crisis of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," Mr. Wooley said in a prepared statement.
Mr. Wooley's term was not without some controversy. Last year he inspired some public outrage when it was revealed he had used departmental funds to purchase a $40,000 special edition Harley-Davidson truck to replace a one-year-old sport utility vehicle.
Mr. Wooley eventually issued a statement of apology saying he had returned the truck–as well as a Ford Expedition he had purchased previously–to the State Division of Administration, and he was sorry to have taken attention away "from all the good things the employees of the Department of Insurance have done during my tenure."
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