ATLANTA — Governor Brian Kemp has appointed Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds to replace long-time GBI head Vernan Keenan to take the helm of the state law enforcement agency.

The announcement was made by Kemp on Friday.

Keenan served since Jan. 18, 2011, when he was re-appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal. According to the GBI’s website, Keenan has been appointed to every rank within the GBI, and he previously served as assistant director before taking over the top post nearly eight years ago.

According to the Cobb District Attorney’s office, Reynolds was born and raised in Rome, Ga. A graduate of Floyd County public schools, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Georgia Southern University, in Statesboro.

Reynolds returned to Rome following graduation where he was in law enforcement for four years. In 1986, Reynolds graduated from Georgia State University School of Law and became an assistant district attorney in Fulton and Cobb counties. Reynolds was a prosecutor in Cobb when he was appointed as Chief Magistrate in 1994.

Reynolds won election to a full term as Chief Magistrate in 1996, earning 72 percent of the vote with duties including presiding over the Cobb County Drug Court. He left the bench in 1999 and began practicing criminal defense law.

In July 2012, Reynolds was chosen by voters as the Republican nominee for District Attorney of the Cobb Judicial Circuit, and he won the office without opposition in the Nov. 6, 2012, general election.