Topeka ? Four directors will retire from the Kansas Insurance Department on Dec. 5.

The retirements announced Tuesday come as Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger prepares to leave office in January. Department spokesman Bob Hanson says the retirements were all planned.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports directors Marlyn Burch, life division; Neil Woerman, information technology; Steve O’Neil, consumer assistance; and Ted Clark, anti-fraud, will retire. The department has 11 directors.

Burch has worked for the department for 53 years, beginning in 1961.

O’Neil joined the department in 1987, while Woerman and Clark joined the department in 2003.

The department will wait to fill the positions until Ken Selzer becomes commissioner in January.