Del Holley, Chairman
East Tennessee Representative
Term of Appointment: October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2022
General Del Holley has been employed by the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office since July 1, 1994. Prior to his employment in the District Attorney General’s Office, General Holley was employed by the Hamilton County Chancery Court as a judicial clerk (1991-1992) and was engaged in private practice with the Knoxville firm of Gentry, Tipton, Kizer & Little, P.C. (1992-1994).
General Holley received his Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Auburn University in 1988 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1991. He has been licensed to practice law in Tennessee since October 1991 and was admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in April 1992.
When he joined the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office in July 1994, General Holley began with a courtroom assignment to General Sessions Court. From August through November 1995, he was assigned to Knox County Juvenile Court as part of the Repeat Violent Juvenile Offender program, which focused on the apprehension and prosecution of serious violent juvenile offenders and gang members. From December 1995 until August 2004, he was the General Sessions Unit Coordinator responsible for supervising the lawyers and support staff assigned to the four criminal divisions of Knox County General Sessions Court. He also served as Senior Assistant in the Warrant Screening Unit from 1997 until 2004; in that capacity, he worked with Knox County judicial commissioners on a daily basis, screening requests for issuance of arrest warrants and criminal summons.
From September 2004 until May 2009, General Holley was a member of the trial team in Knox County Criminal Court, Division I. From June 2009 until September 2010, he returned to an assignment at Juvenile Court. Since September 2010, he has been assigned to the Felony Division of General Sessions Court, and currently is the senior Assistant on the team.
General Holley serves as Parliamentarian for the East Tennessee Council on Aging and Disability. He has been a member of Knox County ElderWatch and served as chairperson of the East Tennessee ElderWatch Executive Committee (2004-2006). He helped plan and lead numerous community and professional education events sponsored by ElderWatch.
General Holley served as a member of the steering committee for the East Tennessee Regional Senior Summits held in 2008 and 2009. Those events, co-sponsored by County Mayors, Sheriffs and District Attorneys General representing 17 East Tennessee counties, were attended by over 4,000 seniors from across the region. He served as chair (2012-2013) and secretary (2013-2014) of the Tennessee Vulnerable Adult Coalition (TVAC), a group spearheading a statewide effort to combat elder abuse and other offenses perpetrated against vulnerable adults.
In 2015, General Holley received the John J. Duncan, Sr. Award (Professional) given annually by the Board of the Senior Citizens Information and Referral Service in Knoxville to recognize outstanding effort in the area of senior advocacy. He served as a faculty member in the Knox County Schools Legal Lives Program, an innovative project to educate seventh grade students about the law and the criminal justice system. He is also frequently invited to speak to law enforcement, community, and church groups to train and educate persons about the criminal justice system.
Outside the office, General Holley is an active member of The United Methodist Church and serves in leadership positions in his congregation and at the district, conference and jurisdictional level. He is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association; the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference; an alumnus of the national College of District Attorneys; and a graduate of Leadership Knoxville (Class of 2007). General Holley’s wife, Jennifer, is a physical therapist. They have two children, Leah and Benjamin, and live in South Knoxville.