A top Federal Emergency Management Agency official is stepping down to lead Salt Lake County's emergency preparation efforts.

Robert Flowers, who has also served as Utah's top cop and directed security at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, will move back to Salt Lake to serve as the county's emergency management chief.

"He was looking to move back to Salt Lake, and we were happy to have somebody of his qualifications," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said. The County Council must confirm Flowers' nomination.

Corroon said Flowers will "essentially make sure our government itself is prepared for an emergency."

Flowers will help prepare the bureaucracy of county government in case of emergency, like setting up contracts with companies for supplies. He will function in a confidential and key policy-making capacity in the county, providing input to the mayor and County Council in the formulation, preparation, coordination and implementation of policies and plans to respond to potential natural disasters, emergencies and other public safety crises.

"When it comes to the day we have an emergency, we won't be trying to figure out what to do next," Corroon said.

Flowers has spent the past year leading FEMA's regional office in Denver, which oversees Utah, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Before that, he served as Utah's commissioner of public safety. During his stint there, Flowers came under fire for logging 35,000 miles on his state vehicle in 2005, more than anyone else given a state car for personal use. Flowers was living in the St. George area at the time and commuted to the Wasatch Front for work.

At the time, Flowers said he rented an apartment in the Salt Lake area where he stayed Monday through Friday, traveling home to Santa Clara only on weekends.

Flowers was in FEMA meetings in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

He holds a master's degree in homeland defense and security from the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey, Calif., and a bachelor's from the University of Utah. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com