Three finalists nominated as new TBI director

A nominating commission Tuesday chose three finalists for appointment as new director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation – former Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble, current TBI Deputy Director Jason Locke and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch. Gov. Bill Haslam can now chose the new director from the list submitted by the TBI Nominating Commission.

From the Times Free Press report:

The five-man commission, chaired by Jerry Estes, executive director of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference and a former prosecutor from Athens, spent some 5 1/2 hours hearing presentations and questioning the nine remaining candidates for the post. Forty-four persons had applied.

All the remaining candidates touted their law enforcement backgrounds, achievements and leadership abilities, while many also discussed their experience with budgets.

But it was clear from commissioners’ statements and questions that in addition to those qualities, they were also interested in other strengths.

Chief among them was independence. Would the candidates be able to maintain the agency’s independence from political interference while working cooperatively with local law enforcement and prosecutors, they asked.

… The five-member panel made its decision on the first ballot. Locke received five votes while Gobble and Rausch received three votes.

David Jolley, a former TBI agent and director of the Tennessee Valley Authority Police who was recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee, received two votes.

Richard Moore, a current assistant TBI director who is in charge of the training division, received one vote, as did Edward Reinhold, a current deputy assistant director with the FBI who heads the agency’s Critical Incident Response Group.

Note: Previous post (when the list was narrowed to ten) is HERE.