Assistant Commissioner Lee Dotson

Lee R. Dotson was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security in  March of 2024.  He was first appointed as the Director- Special Programs of the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security, in July of 2023.

He began his law enforcement career as a Patrol Deputy with the Robertson County Sheriff’s Department in May of 1984.  He transitioned to the Springfield Police Department in 1985, where he served in patrol, on the Emergency Response Team, and crime prevention/DARE.  He began his State of Tennessee career as a Special Agent with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, in January of 1994.  He left state service in July of 1996, joining the United States Secret Service.

With the United States Secret Service, Dotson had permanent assignments in Nashville, Washington D.C., Jackson Hole, Dallas, and San Antonio, along with two temporary duty assignments with the City of London Police and the UK National Criminal Intelligence Service.  He served as a Firearms Instructor, Protective Intelligence Coordinator, Protective Detail Emergency Medical Coordinator, and Protective Detail Training Coordinator.  He held several Supervisory Agent Positions, conducted investigations and protective advances both domestically/internationally, including in high-risk/high-consequence environments, retiring as the Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Field Office, in March of 2017.

Dotson returned as a State of Tennessee employee , in April of 2017 joining the Department of Correction, serving as the Chief Interdiction Officer and was later appointed to Assistant Commissioner of Prison Operations, in August of 2019.  He oversaw 14 prisons, statewide K9, tactical, and enforcement programs.  He held that position until retiring in April 2023.

Assistant Commissioner Dotson has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of the State of New York – Regents College and a Masters of Public Administration Degree from the University of Wyoming.  He is a graduate of the 174th session of the FBI National Academy and a graduate of the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville.  He served as a visiting instructor at the International Law Enforcement Academy, in Gaborone, Botswana.