Gov. Mike Easley has picked two deputies to replace retiring department heads until permanent successors are picked. Tracy Little will be acting secretary of the Department of Correction to replace retiring Secretary Theodis Beck.

Easley named Joanne McDaniel acting secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to replace retiring Secretary George Sweat.

Little was deputy secretary in the correction department, according to a news release. McDaniel was chief of staff in her department. The two will lead their agencies until Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue can install a replacement.

What will happen to members of Gov. Mike Easley's Cabinet?

As the two-term governor prepares to leave office in January, at least six of his top appointees have already said they will do the same, while others may be hoping to stay under Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

Here's the current rundown on their plans (question marks indicate decisions are not official):

Britt Cobb, Administration: Stepping down
Jim Fain, Commerce: Stepping down
Theodis Beck, Correction: Retiring
Bryan Beatty, Crime Control: Moving to Correction?
Libba Evans, Cultural Resources: On leave already
Bill Ross, Environment and Natural Resources: Hoping to stay?
Dempsey Benton, Health and Human Services: Stepping down
George Sweat, Juvenile Justice: Retiring
Reginald Hinton, Revenue: Retiring
Lyndo Tippett, Transportation: Hoping to stay?

We've put the question to each of the secretaries and will update this post as we get more definitive answers on the remaining holdouts.

As always, e-mail any tips, gossip and unsubstantiated rumors to dome@newsobserver.com.

The first and only state secretary of juvenile justice will retire Dec. 31.

George Sweat, a former Winston-Salem police chief who moved to Raleigh to head up a juvenile justice program in 1998, was appointed the first secretary of the newly created Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention by Gov. Jim Hunt in 2000.

He was reappointed by Gov. Mike Easley to two more terms.

Spokesman William Lassiter said that Sweat is retiring at the end of the year, shortly before the end of Easley's second term and the inauguration of Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

After graduating from East Carolina University, Sweat began his career in 1970 with the Winston-Salem Police Department, eventually being named police chief in 1987. He served in that position for 12 years.

Perdue's transition team has not made any announcements about Sweat's replacement.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the year Sweat became police chief.