OLYMPIA — Nebraska corrections director Harold Clarke yesterday said he's accepting Gov. Christine Gregoire's offer to head Washington's prison system knowing full well that Republicans are trying to remove her from office.

Clarke, 53, said he and his wife researched the GOP court challenge to Gregoire's election before deciding to take the $135,000-a-year job.

"We all take risks every day," he said. "We have some degree of comfort in taking this risk that it's going to be a long-term situation for us."

Clarke, whose appointment requires confirmation by the state Senate, is Gregoire's first significant out-of-state hire. Earlier key appointments, such as her chief of staff and budget director, went to well-known government workers who've been around Olympia for years.

Clarke will be the first African American to head the state Department of Corrections. He was born in Panama, speaks Spanish and English, and holds a black belt in karate.

He spent more than 20 years at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and worked his way up to director in 1990. Nebraska's system has about 4,000 inmates, compared to more than 17,000 in Washington.

"His leadership in corrections has been recognized nationally," Gregoire said of Clarke yesterday, noting that "Nebraska's prison system has one of the lowest levels of violence in the country."

A review of news articles indicates the Nebraska prison system has been the subject of lawsuits and criticism during Clarke's 14-year tenure, but Gregoire's office said that just goes with the territory.

"The director of an agency is always named when there's litigation," said Mary Riveland, part of the team recruiting people to work in Gregoire's administration.

Riveland said Gregoire's office took a detailed look into Clarke's background and came to the conclusion that when problems came up he had handled them "in an appropriate manner."

Nebraska state Sen. Dwite Pedersen, vice chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee, gives Clarke high marks. "He and I didn't always get along, but he's a good man," said Pedersen, a Republican.

Pedersen said he and Clarke had disagreed over budget matters, but that he'd likely have had the same disagreements with any corrections director. "He did a very good job for Nebraska," Pedersen said.

Clarke, who is to start work Feb. 28, said Washington needs to deal with overcrowded prisons.

"The main issue is to take a look at our sentencing laws and decide if we are incarcerating the right people," he said. "That's where it all begins. Are we locking folks up we're afraid of, or are we locking folks up we're mad at?

"There is nothing simple about this matter," he said. "This is something together we all have to sit down and talk about and figure out the right response for Washington.

Meanwhile, Gregoire's office is working with a Massachusetts head-hunting firm, Ford Webb Associates, to find leaders for the Department of Social and Health Services, Department of Labor and Industries and Department of Community Trade and Economic Development. The firm, which did not recruit Clarke, charges $35,000 plus expenses for each person successfully recruited, said Gregoire's office.

No other announcements of agency heads named by Gregoire are expected this week. Fred Olson, Gregoire's deputy chief of staff, said the election recounts had put the new governor behind schedule. "If we'd been able to start on Nov. 3, we'd probably have virtually all the Cabinet filled by now," he said.

But Olson said the court challenge has not hampered recruiting. "... We're satisfied we're getting some excellent candidates," he said.

He noted that all the people being hired are managers exempt from civil-service rules, which means there are no job guarantees. The Governor's Office hasn't been warning applicants of the GOP court challenge, but "at the agency director level, you'd think they're sophisticated enough politically to know that."

In addition to Clarke, Gregoire announced she'd hired Richard Mitchell, a Seattle attorney, to be her legal counsel. She also appointed Kurt Fritts as director of external affairs. Fritts previously had done work for state Senate Democrats.

Staff researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report. Andrew Garber: 360-943-

9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com