Jim Henry (Tennessee)

Is this person no longer a chief of staff? Please contact us with any updates.

Jim Henry
Basic facts
Organization:	Bill Haslam gubernatorial administration
Role:	Advisor
Location:	Nashville, Tenn.
Affiliation:	Republican
Prior Experience
Chief of staff, Bill Haslam gubernatorial administration, 2015-2017

Jim Henry is a Republican political advisor in the state of Tennessee. As of November 2017, he was a deputy advisor to Gov. Bill Haslam (R). From June 2015 to November 2017, he was Haslam's chief of staff, a position took over when Mark Cate left the administration to join the private sector.

Career

Early political career

Beginning in 1971, Henry served on city council and then as mayor of Kingston, Tennessee, a position he held until 1978, when he became chair of the Republican Party of Tennessee. He was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1980 and served until 1992. Six of his years in that position were as the chamber's minority leader.

Omni Visions, Inc.

For 13 years after leaving the legislature, Henry was president of Omni Visions, a private company that helps adults with developmental disabilities.

Bill Haslam Cabinet

In 2011, Haslam named Henry as the first commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD), which became a standalone department that year.

Haslam then appointment Henry as the head of the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) in May 2013, after former director Kate O'Day stepped down in February of that year.

Bill Haslam chief of staff

In June 2015, Henry was appointed chief of staff for Haslam. Upon appointing Henry, Haslam said, "Over the past four years, Jim has led two departments in state government that handle some of our most difficult work concerning our most vulnerable citizens. Along with his experience in DIDD and DCS, he has been a mayor, a legislator and businessman. I appreciate his willingness to serve in this capacity and bring his knowledge and expertise to our office." In November 2017, Stephen Smith took over as chief of staff, and Henry continued to work with Haslam as a deputy advisor.

Chief of staff

See also: Gubernatorial chiefs of staff

In 2017, Ballotpedia identified Jim Henry (Tennessee) as a gubernatorial chief of staff. A chief of staff is the lead staff member of an administration and is responsible for implementing the governor's agenda.

The role is both a managerial and advisory position, although specific duties vary by administration. The chief of staff typically has the following responsibilities, according to the National Governors Association (NGA):

• Control access to the governor and manage the governor's calendar;
• Monitor the flow of information to the governor on policy issues;
• Oversee gubernatorial Cabinet and staff; and
• Manage and communicate the governor's policy agenda to the state legislature and the public.

In terms of policymaking, the NGA notes that a chief of staff is responsible for bringing policy and communications together: "The chief is responsible for overseeing the development of the governor’s policy agenda. The policy director or advisor is typically responsible for shaping the general concepts and specific details of the agenda with input from the communications director, policy staff and cabinet members. The chief often must take charge and bring the pieces together coherently."

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Jim Henry' Tennessee. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Jim Henry (Tennessee) - Google News

See also

• Bill Haslam