SACRAMENTO, CALIF. ? The head of California’s prison system, a reform-minded appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he’s resigning after more than two years on the job because his efforts lacked political support.

Corrections Secretary Roderick Q. Hickman, 49, said the governor would receive an official letter of resignation today.

“I think we’ve built an excellent foundation, but I just don’t see the courage and will we need to get it done across the board in the government of California,” Hickman told the Los Angeles Times in Sunday’s edition.

The governor’s office said Sunday the department’s undersecretary, Jeanne Woodford, would temporarily fill the top post.

Hickman frequently came under fire from legislators, union officials and prison watchdog groups, which criticized his lack of progress cleaning up California’s $8 billion prison system.

The department under Hickman started a new parole program designed to keep more inmates from returning to prison by easing their transition back to a normal life.

Schwarzenegger, speaking Sunday at the National Governors Assn. meeting in Washington, D.C., said Hickman faced obstacles in trying to clean up California’s prisons.

“He had a lot of chances, but as you know it’s a system that has been dysfunctional for so long,” the governor said.