Public safety officials have heard a rumor the Huntsman administration may be looking to consolidate the public safety and corrections departments but have been unable to confirm that idea is anything more than that.

"We brought it up with the future (public information officer) for governor-elect Huntsman, Tammy Kikuchi, and she said that was news to her," Department of Public Safety spokesman Wade Breur said. "She was going to check it out."

DPS is taking a "wait and see" approach to the matter, Breur added.

As for whether or not DPS commissioner Robert Flowers will stay or go under the new administration, Breur wouldn't comment.

"His official stance is 'I'm not talking about it because it's too dangerous,' " Bruer said of Flowers, the former chief of police from St. George, who took the commissioner's job in January 2001.

Corrections officials have heard similar rumbling but have also been unable to verify whether it is fact or fiction.

"We've heard it, and we don't think it's a very good idea," Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said. "We are two completely different organizations with different goals and different issues."

There's also been no inkling about whether or not interim corrections chief Scott Carver will keep the job he inherited Aug. 1 upon the retirement of Mike Chabries.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard is rumored to want the position. Kennard was contacted by the Deseret Morning News, but he said in a telephone message that "if this is about the state, there's not much to say."

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Contributing: Jennifer Dobner, Amy Joi Bryson.