Two nominees seek to replace retired Sheriff Daron Hall: Acting Sheriff Ruby Joyner and former Lt. Jared Irvine. The Metro Council votes Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The Metro Council will choose Davidson County’s next sheriff on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Two people are nominated to replace Daron Hall, who retired Oct. 19 after more than 24 years in the job.
The nominees are Ruby J. Joyner, the acting sheriff, and Jared W. Irvine, a former lieutenant in the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. Both are due before the council’s Rules, Confirmations and Public Elections Committee at 5:30 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, for interviews.
The winner will serve until voters elect a sheriff at the August 2028 general election. That is set out in the vice mayor’s Oct. 16 notice of the vacancy.
Who is nominated
The nominations are filed with the council’s agenda item 26-187.
Ruby J. Joyner was nominated by nine members of the council’s Minority Caucus, in a letter filed Oct. 23. The letter says she joined the Sheriff’s Office in 1999 and has served more than 27 years. Her posts, as the caucus listed them:
- treatment team supervisor
- facility administrator and jail administrator
- director of training
- chief of corrections
- chief deputy, second in command and operational leader for all of the office’s facilities
The caucus also notes she is a licensed master social worker with experience in behavioral health, crisis intervention and reentry. “Maintaining stable, experienced leadership at the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office is critical,” the letter said.
Jared W. Irvine nominated himself in a letter filed Oct. 22. He wrote that he spent more than 10 years with the Sheriff’s Office and reached the rank of lieutenant. He said he left in good standing in 2024 and now teaches criminal justice and public safety courses. His posts included supervisory roles at the Maximum Correctional Center and in transportation and court services.
Irvine listed his priorities as continuity, protecting employees and people in custody, accountability and financial management. He also wrote that he would look for ways to “reduce unnecessary financial burdens on Davidson County taxpayers without compromising public safety.”
How the vote works
The election is the first item on the council’s Nov. 17 agenda. The rules, from the vice mayor’s notice:
- Council members vote by machine, and only for properly nominated candidates.
- A nominee needs a majority of the votes cast. Abstentions do not count as votes cast.
- With only two nominees, a tie goes to the vice mayor, who casts the deciding vote.
- Each nominator may speak for up to five minutes, and can give that time to the candidate.
The nominees had to file a résumé, a questionnaire and papers for the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. A sheriff must also meet the qualifications in state law and the Metro Charter, which the notice lists. They include being at least 25, a county resident and voter for a year, and passing a criminal history check and a mental health evaluation.
Hall’s 24 years
The council honored Hall on Nov. 5 with a resolution on his retirement. It says he was elected sheriff seven times and spent 35 years with the Sheriff’s Office. It calls him the youngest and longest-serving sheriff in Davidson County’s history.
The resolution credits him with:
- the 762-bed Downtown Detention Center
- the Behavioral Care Center, a jail diversion program for people with mental illness
- funding in the mayor’s capital spending plan for a southeast campus to ease overcrowding
- a lawsuit against the state over state inmates held in local jails
The vice mayor’s office received his retirement notice on Oct. 9.
What it means for you
- Want to speak tonight? The Rules Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. in Committee Room 2 of the Historic Metro Courthouse, 1 Public Square. Public comment is capped at eight minutes in all and two minutes a speaker. Sign up outside the room before the meeting starts, and bring proof of Tennessee residency, according to the committee agenda.
- Want to back a nominee? Voters can file a petition of support with the Metro Clerk, Suite 205 of the Historic Courthouse.
- Tell your council member. Each of the 40 members casts a vote on Nov. 17. Find yours on our who to call at Metro page.
- Following public safety news? See our Police and Fire log.
We will update this page with the committee’s interviews and the council’s vote.
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