Sixty-nine new Highway Patrol officers will be on Mississippi roadways after a graduation Tuesday in Jackson.

The new class brings the total number of state troopers to 629.

The class was the fourth-largest to graduate thus far for the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

A state trooper’s starting salary is $34,800 a year, said Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain. The next Highway Patrol class is contingent on funding from the Legislature.

Gov. Haley Barbour, who delivered the commencement address, promised to continue supporting law enforcement efforts and to keep politics out of their agencies.

“These men and women must not just be strong and brave,” Barbour said. “They must be virtuous, honorable people that we can trust. They must treat the poorest and most objectionable person fairly.”