Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP
In this Dec. 3, 2009, file photo, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sullivan is retiring after 30 years on the job the Secret Service announced Friday, Feb. 1, 2013.
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 | 2:24 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The head of the Secret Service is stepping down after 30 years with the agency.
A Secret Service spokesman says Mark Sullivan will retire effective Feb. 23. His replacement hasn't been announced.
Sullivan joined the Secret Service in 1983 after three years as a special agent in the inspector general's office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was appointed director in 2006.
Sullivan could have retired from government nearly 10 years ago but chose to stay on for what turned out to be a turbulent period for the service.
Last year, in testimony before Congress, Sullivan apologized for the conduct of Secret Service employees caught up on a prostitution scandal in Colombia.
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