Article updated to remove this line: “A dedication ceremony is scheduled on Jan. 27 for this new 15,500-square-foot facility.” That date is not yet finalized.
She’s pure East Tennessee right down to her boots … and her roots. A sign in her office defines a true Tennessee girl – “Loves God, Sweet Tea and the SEC.” Stacey Wood Heatherly says “that’s me” as she swirled her cup of sweet tea. Indeed, it is she.
On November 23, she became Capt. Stacey Heatherly, the new commander of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Knoxville District 1. She heads a staff of 84 including 67 troopers. She succeeds Capt. Michael Melhorn, who retired after a long THP career.
Capt. Stacey Heatherly
Heatherly’s district covers 10 counties – Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott and Sevier.
She was hesitant to apply for Melhorn’s job, but her THP husband kept encouraging her. “I finally decided that at my age of 56 and with my experience, it was my time and I knew that I had a lot to bring to the table for this job,” she explained. “I want the troopers to know I care for them and their families. It’s hard work, dangerous work. But I expect them to do their jobs and I will hold them accountable.”
Today, she and husband Michael still live on the 97-acre farm where she grew up along with two other branches of the family. They have a blended family of four kids and enjoy six grandkids. Michael is a member of the Region 1 CIRT (Critical Incident Response Team). But he reports to Nashville, not to his wife.
She’s always been competitive, growing up with two brothers and their friends. “My Mom tried to teach me to be a Southern Belle, but that was not for this girl,” she says. “I could do the Southern Belle thing but that’s not me.”
She’s a Jacksboro and Campbell County native. Her parents were Virginia Jo and Dr. Burgin Wood. Her father died in 2018 at age 93 and her mother in 2019 at 92. Both were pilots and her mother was a member of The Ninety-Nines, a nationwide club for women pilots. Her father was a general surgeon, a family doctor who delivered many babies and for many years took care of many Campbell County families. He was in practice with his brother-in-law, Dr. James Crutchfield.
She was very much a Daddy’s girl and remembers tagging along on many house calls he made.
She graduated from Campbell County High School, class of 1982, and has a 45-minute commute to the THP headquarters on Kingston Pike. But that commute will change a bit in late January 2022. After 57 years, the District 1 office will move to a new, 15,000-square-foot location in Strawberry Plains at 1755 Neals Commerce Lane.
Heatherly graduated from the THP Trooper Academy in 1998 (the only woman to graduate in a class of 42) and was first a road trooper in Wilson and Campbell counties. She was promoted to sergeant in 2007, in the Office of Professional Accountability (Internal Affairs). Heatherly continued as a sergeant at the Knox County scales, then was patrol supervisor in Knox and Union counties before being promoted to lieutenant in 2013. She also served Anderson, Campbell and Scott counties as a patrol lieutenant before moving to Special Programs. She graduated from the Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command in 2012. During those 23 years she also served as THP’s first uniformed Public Information Officer.
If anyone was ready for this job, it’s Heatherly, who has paid her dues and climbed the ranks.
In a life before Michael, the THP and having and rearing kids, she was in North Carolina and witnessed a drug deal go down outside of a school. “That really upset me and probably is part of my being in law enforcement,” she said. When she returned to Tennessee at age 23, she marched into an East Tennessee sheriff’s office to apply for a job. “That old sheriff looked at me and said he didn’t have any jobs open and that as long as he was chief a female would not be hired by the department,” Heatherly said. Later that year she applied with the THP.
She passed the THP exams in 1988 but it took 10 more years for her to join the THP. During those years she stayed home rearing kids and was the director of the Campbell County 911 Center from 1993-1998, leading the project to build the center’s $1 million facility.
Now, she’s in the infancy of her biggest challenge in leading THP’s District 1. “I have a very young district when it comes to our troopers – 40% of them have been on the road for less than three years,” she said. “I’m here to help them develop and grow. I want them to learn the full scope of the THP and what it does statewide. Knowing how the department works really helps in their jobs.”
Away from her day job, she relaxes with the grandkids and with her two new Tennessee Walking Horses. She rides but does not compete with them.
Heatherly says her priorities are simple. “God, my family and the THP …. and when it comes to law enforcement, the THP is second to none. It is simply the best.”
Col. Matt Perry commands the THP and on Nov. 23, 2021, he pinned captain bars to her uniform. “Capt. Heatherly has demonstrated her passion and devotion to the Tennessee Highway Patrol over the course of her 23-year career,” he said. “I know she will serve her district with professionalism and pride.”
Tom King has served at newspapers in Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and California and was the editor of two newspapers. Suggest future stories at tking535@gmail.com or call him at 865-659-3562.