Maryland's embattled Juvenile Services secretary is stepping down to pursue "an opportunity in a different state," the agency announced this afternoon. The secretary, Donald W. DeVore, is the first cabinet-level departure since Gov. Martin O'Malley won a second term.

DeVore's last year was marred by the sexual assault and murder of a teacher, apparently at the hands of a student, at the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County. State auditors also recently turned up chronic problems with the agency's procurement and bureaucratic procedures.

In today's Sun, my colleague Julie Bykowicz reported that DeVore (the man on the right with the red tie) was called on the carpet at Wednesday's Board of Public Works meeting when he was forced to defend $171 million in no-bid contracts that were in place for nearly five years without board approval.

From The Sun story: "Asked after the meeting whether he planned to remain as secretary through O'Malley's second term, DeVore said he was having 'private conversations' with the governor about that."

O'Malley's spokesman Shaun Adamec says the Administration will conduct a national search for a replacement and added that DeVore will stay on until the transition is complete.