Civil rights chief to step down this year

LANSING (AP) — The executive director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights plans to leave his post when his contract ends in October.

Leslee Fritz, deputy director of the Department of Civil Rights, told The Associated Press that Matt Wesaw informed the Michigan Civil Rights Commission of his decision earlier this month.

The commission will select his successor.

Wesaw’s plans were reported this week by Crain’s Detroit Business.

Wesaw, a former state trooper and a Native American tribal leader, has been executive director since October 2013, when he became the first Indian to lead the state Department of Civil Rights.