MINNEAPOLIS — President Barack Obama intends to nominate B. Todd Jones as his choice to be the next leader of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Jones is the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. He has served as the acting director of the ATF since late 2011 — taking over as the agency was embroiled in controversy surrounding an operation against gun smuggling.

Jones has continued to serve in both roles, spending about half of his time in Washington and half in Minnesota.

In his first weeks as acting ATF director, Jones “hit the reset button” and assembled a team of law enforcement executives, to get the ATF back to its core mission of fighting violent crime.

His nomination must still be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.