Julie A. Allen is the state’s new top ethics cop.

The Missouri Ethics Commission announced today that it had chosen Allen, a certified public accountant, to head the agency. Allen currently works as director of the customer services division at the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Allen worked in the secretary of state’s office when Gov. Matt Blunt ran that shop. Before that, she was a technology consultant for Mississippi state government.

The ethics commission had been without a permanent executive director since spring, when former director Robert Connor hit the statutory six-year term limit.

The commission asked the Legislature to allow him to serve longer but that attempt failed. Since then, Connor has continued as a part-time consultant while ethics staffer Stacey Heislen has been the acting chief.

The ethics commission handles campaign finance filings, lobbyist reports and ethics complaints.