Wesley Holt handed the keys to the Greene County Jail over to David Beverly on Monday afternoon, a ceremonial exchange signifying Holt leaving the office of Greene County Sheriff and Beverly taking over the position on Monday morning.
Holt did not run for reelection to the office and Beverly, who had served as Chief Deputy during Holt’s tenure, won the race for the seat in early August.
Holt said the ceremony had not happened for years, often due to rivalry or jealously between incumbent sheriffs and those taking over the role after them. However, Beverly and Holt have no such competition, and have maintained a friendship over the past few months as Holt prepared to leave office and Beverly prepares to step in.
Wesley Holt
Holt said he would be a phone call away to help Beverly in any way he can. As a matter of fact, Holt will be working part time with the department on highway safety matters and records organization after stepping down as Sheriff.
However, Holt left no doubt Monday that Beverly would be the lead law enforcement officer in Greene County moving forward.
“As of midnight tonight, he’s the man,” Holt said of Beverly while standing in the Sheriff’s office.
Beverly said he was excited to take office as Sheriff, and that not much would be changing as he took over the role. However, he did note that he would be working closely with his new Chief Deputy Jeff Davis as he begins his term.
David Beverly
Currently, Davis is a Detective Captain with over 32 years of law enforcement experience. He currently commands the Criminal Investigations Division — directing detectives on felony casework, narcotics, financial crimes, and multi-agency task forces, and serves as the department’s liaison to district attorneys and federal partners.
Davis’ career began in 1993 as a corrections deputy at the jail and he is a graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy. In 1995 Jeff was promoted to patrol sergeant in 2004 until 2013 at which time he transferred to the Criminal Investigations division. In 2020, he was promoted to Detective Lieutenant until promoted to Detective Captain in 2022 until present. He will know become Chief Deputy.
Beverly has nearly three decades of law enforcement experience.
Beverly has been with Greene County Sheriff’s Department for 28 years and has served as Chief Deputy for the past seven under Sheriff Holt.
Beverly is a lifelong resident of Greene County. He is a 1990 graduate of Greeneville High School. He attended Tusculum College for two years before working at Greene Valley Developmental Center.
He began his career with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in 1997 as a corrections officer, and was transferred to a dispatcher position with the Sheriff’s Office in 1999. Upon receiving his police officer standards training and becoming a commissioned officer, he was assigned to the patrol division. He completed tryouts for Special Operations (S.W.A.T.) in 2004, where he became an operator until 2012. He was promoted to leading the team as Assistant Commander in 2012. During his tenure with the GCSO, Beverly has served in command positions to include Patrol Sergeant and Patrol Lieutenant.
When Holt was elected in 2018, Beverly was appointed as Chief Deputy of the department.
As Chief Deputy, Beverly was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agency. He is personally responsible for overseeing all deputies in several divisions including, patrol, corrections, school resource, court security, civil process, records, criminal investigations, litter crew, maintenance, department of transportation and auxiliary patrol. His responsibilities also include overseeing the department’s budgets, purchasing for the agency, hiring/interviews, and promotional boards.
Beverly is a graduate of the Walter State Tennessee Regional Law Enforcement Training Academy, class 48. He graduated in the top 5 of his class and received the defensive tactics award and the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association award. He was awarded the Optimist Clubs Officer of the year in 2005. Throughout his career he received instructor certifications in firearms, D.U.I. detection and field sobriety testing, active shooter response, and instructor development. He completed the F.B.I. lead, Tennessee Law Enforcement Executive Leadership Development School in 2021, and graduated South Eastern Leadership Academy in 2024.
Beverly and his wife, Paula, live in Greeneville and have two daughters Taylor and Abigail. They also have two granddaughters, Hadley and Harlie.
Beverly was sworn-in on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Greene County Courthouse.
