SAN DIEGO -- Undersheriff Bill Gore was scheduled to be sworn in Thursday as San Diego County's first new sheriff in 15 years.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously appointed Gore to serve out the remaining year of outgoing Sheriff Bill Kolender's term. The 73-year-old Kolender has been re-elected three consecutive times since first being elected Sheriff in 1994.

Kolender announced in April he would be retiring midterm, effective July 2, because of his wife's health.

Gore, 61, will be sworn in as sheriff at 9 a.m. at San Diego County Sheriff's Department headquarters, 9621 Ridgehaven Court.

"My pledge to you would be a simple one," Gore told the supervisors before they voted. "I want to make San Diego County the safest urban county in the United States, bar none."

Gore, a former FBI agent, is one of five law enforcement veterans who have said they will run for Sheriff next year. The other candidates are James Duffy, a former sheriff's lieutenant and county Supervisor Ron Roberts' chief of staff; Jay La Suer, a former undersheriff and past state legislator; former San Diego police Chief David Bejarano; and former sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Ruff.