Tony Wilkes

Chief of Corrections - Davidson County Sheriff's Office

Tony M. Wilkes began his Davidson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) career in 1987 as a Correctional Officer assigned to the Workhouse (currently known as the Jerry Newson Center). In 1991, he transferred to the Criminal Justice Center where he worked as the master control operator until 1994. He was then promoted to an Administrative Services Officer at the CJC, and two years later he became the CJC Chief of Security. In 2002, Tony transferred to the Correctional Work Center, now Correctional Development Center, as Chief of Security, and was later appointed Administrator of that institution. In 2006, Tony became DCSO’s first-ever Site Administrator for the Sheriff’s Correctional Complex overseeing the management and administrative duties associated with operating multiple stand-alone correctional institutions. In 2008, Tony was named DCSO’s first-ever Chief of Corrections, which he is responsible the administrative and operational management of five stand-alone institutions. Tony attended Nashville State Technical Institute majoring in computer programming and data processing. He has an Associates of Arts in Business Management and a Bachelors of Science in Business Management through the University of Phoenix. He is an American Jail Association (AJA) Certified Jail Manager, National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Executive Excellence graduate, a NIC Training Consultant, and represents the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office on NIC’s Large Jail Networking committee. Tony has spent the 36 years in corrections building a career and taking a progressive approach in influencing the profession locally, nationally and internationally. Tony is a Subject-Matter Expert (SME) in Adult Local Detention Facilities and works with the Center of Naval Analysis (CNA) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to improve outcomes for local detention facilities. In addition, Tony consults with architectural firms in design-builds for correctional facilities.

Sessions