Gov. David Paterson announced today that he has nominated Col. Harry Corbitt, who worked in the State Police for 25 years before retiring in 2004, to serve as superintendent of the State Police.

Corbitt’s nomination comes after controversial Acting Superintendent Preston Felton announced his retirement last week.

“Colonel Corbitt has been a distinguished member of the New York State Police for more than two decades,” Paterson said. “He has served with distinction throughout his career in law enforcement and has demonstrated a vast array of skills and abilities as both a top administrator and a field commander.”

Corbitt said: “It is a tremendous honor to be nominated to the position of Superintendent of the New York State Police. The men and women of the State Police, both troopers and civilians, are the most dedicated people of any organization that I have ever been associated with.”

Corbitt said at a news conference that it’s a dangerous scenario when politics gets involved in police work. Felton became embroiled in the Troopergate scandal when he was discovered that Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s aides were using State Police to compile travel documents on Republican Senate Leader Joseph Bruno’s use of state aircraft.

Corbitt’s annual salary would be $136,000. The appointment requires state Senate confirmation.

From the governor’s press release on Corbitt’s bio:

Corbitt joined the New York State Police in 1978 and served as a State Trooper in Troop E, the Rochester area, until 1984.

In 1984, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and served as Non-Commissioned Officer in charge of the Basic School at the State Police Academy.

In 1988, he was appointed to the position of Zone Sergeant. Corbitt was then promoted to the position of Lieutenant and served with the Traffic Services Section at Division Headquarters and the State Police Academy.

He was then promoted to Captain in 1991 and Major in 1993. As Major, he was the commanding officer of Troop T of the New York State Thruway.

In 1994, Corbitt was promoted again, becoming Staff Inspector for Employee Relations focusing on the issue of racial profiling. He also served as Lieutenant Colonel and rose to the rank of Colonel when he became the Deputy Superintendent for Employee Relations in 1997.

In 2001 he began serving as the Deputy Superintendent in charge of the Internal Affairs Bureau until he retired in 2004.