Hislop retires. Gonna spend more time with his family.

◼ Transformation in DA Investigations Bureau; retirement, new faces bring change to investigations unit - Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard

...After 33 years in law enforcement, DA Chief Investigator Mike Hislop, 51, has retired and District Attorney Paul Gallegos has tapped investigator Wayne Cox to fill the post. The office is also readying to welcome a pair of new investigators into its ranks in the coming weeks, leaving a void in another local agency's criminal investigations unit....

Gallegos said he has full confidence that Cox is the right person for the job.

”Wayne is the future, and it looks like a very promising future,” he said. “I'm excited. More than excited, I feel we are very fortunate in this office, and in this community, to have him.”

Other changes are also ahead for the DA's Office Investigative Bureau, as the departure of William Hansel several months back to take a lieutenant position with the Humboldt State University Police Department and Cox's promotion left a pair of vacant investigator positions.

Hislop said the bureau has gone ahead with hiring Kyla Baxley and Marvin Kirkpatrick, both of whom currently work as detectives with the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office. Both are expected to start in the coming weeks.

Kirkpatrick, who's worked for the sheriff's office for 27 years, will do general investigations. Baxley, who's worked for the sheriff's office for about five years, will investigate child sex crimes, Hislop said, adding that both are “rock solid” and will work well with the bureau's team.