Commission selects top 3 candidates for Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Judge John Wootten.

NASHVILLE — After a lengthy hearing Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Nominating Commission selected three finalists to fill its upcoming vacant director position.

They are Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch, Tennessee Board of Parole member Tim Gobble and TBI Deputy Director Jason Locke.

The commission, a panel of five men, chose the trio of candidates after interviewing them and six other applicants for more than five hours inside the Cordell Hull Building in downtown Nashville.

Commissioners are Jack Vaughn, a Kingsport-based attorney; Larry Scroggs, a Memphis judge and former state representative; Eddie Bass, a former Giles County sheriff and state representative; Jerry Estes, Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference executive director and Judge John Wootten.

The nine applicants they interviewed - eight men and one woman - were selected last month from a pool of 44. A tenth was also selected, Genevieve “Genny” May, but she withdrew her application prior to the hearing. The reason was not immediately known. 

The current head of the state agency, Mark Gwyn, announced earlier this year he plans to retire after more than 14 years at the helm. He was first appointed to lead the agency in 2004.

Gov. Bill Haslam reappointed Gwyn for his third six-year term in July 2016, after a national search.

Haslam will ultimately choose the new director.

The commission’s votes:

5: Locke

3: Gobble

3: Rausch

2: Jolley

1: Moore

1: Reinhold

The chosen trio:

Rausch is a 25-year veteran of the Knoxville Police Department who has served for the last seven years as chief. He oversees 525 employees in that agency and works with an operating budget of more than $65 million.

According to his resume, Rausch spent four years in the U.S. Army military police and is a past president of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.

Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch among 10 finalists vying to become next TBI director

"I have dedicated nearly half my life to law enforcement," Rausch told commissioners. "My passion is to serve the best with the best."

Rausch emphasized the importance of community trust in the agency and touted his ability to determine people's strengths and where they fit best in a department.

He said he has worked closely with the TBI in the past, including when the agency partnered and aided his with human trafficking and drug issues in that community.

In a 21-year career with the TBI, Locke rose through the ranks to his current position as second in command at the department.

His law enforcement career began with the Watertown Police Department and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office.

His son, Hunter Locke, was hired by Gwyn in 2016 as special agent with the TBI.

If selected as the next director, Locke said he'll aim to build strong relationships and strive to make resources more available to agents. He also said he plans to work on the agency's recent budget shortfall.

Tim Gobble is a Tennessee Board of Parole member and former Bradley County sheriff. Prior to that, he worked for the U.S. Secret Service.

He is also a former Cleveland City Council member and has served as emergency management director for Bradley County, East Ridge city manager and interim deputy chief of the Hamilton County Jail.

He graduated from Lipscomb University and said he has worked closely with local, state, national, and international police agencies as well as the TBI and FBI.

Gobble said he plans to work closely with the legislature and the governor to keep communications open regarding the TBI's budget which has drawn public and political controversy due to the recent shortfall.

Gwyn's decision to cut his term short came less than a month after a state review found the TBI routinely dipped into its cash reserves to make ends meet for four years, leaving those reserves "greatly diminished."

Gwyn, who makes $15,679 a month - about $188,150 a year - is slated to retire next month.

Candidates not selected:

• David Jolley: Recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He's a former TBI agent and the former director of the Tennessee Valley Authority Police. He previously served as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee.
• Edward Reinhold: The deputy assistant director of the FBI who heads the agency’s Critical Incident Response Group.He previously served as the FBI’s special agent in the Eastern District of Tennessee. As an agent, he was involved in the investigation of the July 2016 attack by Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez on two military sites in Chattanooga that left five U.S. service members dead. Reinhold began his career with the FBI in 1987.
• Marjorie Quin: An assistant professor at Cumberland University in Lebanon who retired from the TBI as an assistant special agent in charge. Quin's career at the TBI began in 1998 and she was involved heavily in the agency’s entry into combating human trafficking. Prior to that, she supervised and managed the startup of the bureau’s Fusion Center.
• Daniel “Danny” R. Wright: Former TBI agent (served in the drug division), former Rockwood police chief and current adjunct professor at Roane State Community College. He also is a former director of the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Criminal Investigation Division.
• Richard Moore: An assistant TBI director and supervises the bureau’s training division. Moore began his TBI career in 1999 as a special agent. His career in law enforcement began as a police officer in Winston Salem, N.C.
• Jerry Kitchen: An assistant U.S. attorney in Memphis since 2002, he worked for 17 years as a state prosecutor. Former TBI special agent (1977-1985).

Withdrew:

Genevieve “Genny” May: The U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She previously served with the Louisiana State Police, rising to become deputy superintendent.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.