2nd-in-command at GBI departing after four years

Longtime prosecutor worked in Cobb County before joining agency.

The GBI’S second-in-command is “transitioning out of his role” with the state’s investigative agency, officials confirmed Friday.

Executive director John Melvin, a longtime prosecutor who previously led both the GBI and the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office in interim capacities, is leaving the state agency after four years. He will be replaced next month by assistant director Chris Hosey, who has been with the GBI since 1987.

In a brief statement, a GBI spokeswoman confirmed Melvin’s impending departure but didn’t elaborate on what led to the decision.

“The GBI wants to wish Director Melvin the best in the next chapter of his career, and Director (Mike) Register looks forward to Assistant Director Hosey assisting in leading the agency into the future,” she wrote.

The Atlanta Journal-constitution has reached out to Melvin for comment.

Melvin, who has been a prosecutor for nearly three decades, joined the Cobb DA’S office in 2013. He specialized in prosecuting cases involving elder abuse and white-collar crimes and served as Cobb’s chief assistant district attorney. In 2019, Melvin was named interim DA after his former boss, Vic Reynolds, was tapped to lead the GBI.

Melvin later joined the GBI, serving as Reynolds’ assistant director. He briefly led the agency in an interim role last year when Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Reynolds to serve as a Cobb Superior Court judge.

Last August, former Cobb and Clayton County police chief Mike Register was named director of the GBI, which is tasked with supporting the state’s criminal justice system with investigations, forensic laboratory services and computerized information. The agency also investigates police shootings and wrongdoing by law enforcement personnel and elected officials, among other things.

BOB ANDRES/AJC 2019 John Melvin (left) was executive director of the GBI, working under Michael Register as second-in-command. In a statement from the agency, no reason was given for Melvin’s departure.