David Purkey will serve as director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency after serving as interim director since April.
He will also continue to serve as the governor’s Homeland Security advisor and assistant commissioner for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. He was recently reappointed to the Tennessee Medical Examiner Advisory Council.
Purkey is an army veteran and has served as a county emergency management director, state trooper and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent. He also served four terms as mayor of his native Hamblen County from 1995 to 2010. Purkey promised his colleagues and local governments that he would not forget where he comes from.