CHAIRMAN SARA KYLE
Sara Kyle was born in 1952 near the Tri-Cities area of Upper East Tennessee just a few days before her uncle, the late Frank G. Clement, was elected to his first of three terms as governor of Tennessee. She attended Lincoln Elementary in Kingsport, Tennessee, and after moving to Middle Tennessee, graduated from Dickson High School.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Peery, she attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville before graduating from Austin Peay State University and teaching elementary school in Clarksville. She attended graduate courses at Middle Tennessee State University while teaching. She received her law degree in 1987, the same year she married Senator Jim Kyle (D-Memphis). She practiced law in the same firm with her husband, and was an assistant public defender until she was elected to the Memphis City Court bench in 1991.
A member of a family with a proud tradition of public service in elective office, she has studied the ways government relates to its citizens and worked to make that government and its agencies and courts sensitive to the needs of its citizens.
Sara Kyle resigned from the bench in March 1994 to become a candidate for the Public Service Commission -- a race in which she stressed a strong ethics and reform program as a way to restore public confidence in the commission. She was nominated on February 29, 1996 by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh to become one of three members of the new Tennessee Regulatory Authority. She was reappointed by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh to serve a six year term in 2002, and again in 2008.
The Kyle's have four children and attend Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis. Sara Kyle has worked diligently in organizations promoting civic responsibility and public awareness. She is a member of the board of directors of the Frank G. Clement Foundation. Additionally, she is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Communications Committee, as well as the Past President of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Senior Policy Advisor: Shirley A. Frierson
Executive Administrative Assistant: Thomas Pearson
Contact Director Kyle via e-mail at, sara.kyle@tn.gov
