Haslam Appoints Pickens District Attorney General for 26th Judicial District

Replaces retiring DA Jerry Woodall

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed Jody S. Pickens of Jackson as district attorney general for the 26th Judicial District, replacing retiring District Attorney General Jerry Woodall, effective August 1.  The position will be up for election in 2018.

Pickens has been assistant district attorney general in the district since 1996.  He was a special assistant in the U.S. attorney general’s office for the Western District of Tennessee from 2010-2012.  He has received honors in the community as a leader on victims’ rights, including the Champion of Victims’ Rights Award from Union University, Friend of the Family Award from the American Family Association and for outstanding service to victims of violent crime from West Tennessee Legal Services.    

“Jody Pickens has a deep record of service to the 26th Judicial District, and we are fortunate to have someone with his experience for this position,” Haslam said.

Pickens has served on the advisory board for the University of Memphis campus at Lambuth since 2014.  He was president of the Jackson-Madison County Bar Association from 2010-2011. 

“I’m very appreciative to Governor Haslam for the confidence he has shown in me with this appointment,” Pickens said. “I would like to thank General Woodall for the opportunity he has provided me for almost 21 years to serve the citizens of 26th Judicial District as an assistant district attorney general. I look forward to continuing to serve them as their district attorney general.”

Pickens received his law degree from the University of Memphis in 1996 after receiving a bachelor’s degree from Lambuth in 1993.  Pickens also was an adjunct professor of political science at Lambuth in 1998. He is an elder at the First Presbyterian Church, was an assistant coach for boys basketball at University School of Jackson from 2002-2007 and was a commentator for radio broadcasts of men’s and women’s basketball at Lambuth from 1996-2008.

Pickens and his wife, Linsey, have three children, Stone, Sarah Tucker, and Elizabeth.