Topeka ? Attorney General Paul Morrison plans to name a new director for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation next week.

“We’re going to do something on Wednesday,” Morrison said Friday.

The new director will replace Larry Welch, who is retiring at the end of May after serving as the KBI’s top official since 1994.

The KBI has about 300 employees, including about 80 agents throughout the state. It also has forensic labs, double the number when Welch took over. Its budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is about $27 million.

Last year, Morrison, a Democrat, ousted Phill Kline, a Republican, in the attorney general’s race. However, Welch has said he wasn’t asked to leave and that Morrison’s election wasn’t a factor in his decision.