Perry to Succeed Steward As THP Colonel

The leader of the Tennessee Highway Patrol is retiring next week after 33 years with the agency. Col. Dereck Stewart began as a state trooper in Montgomery County in 1987 and rose to become colonel in 2018. The agency says he is the first African American to serve as colonel. He will be succeeded by Lt. Col. Matt Perry, who joined the agency in 2004. Stewart says serving as colonel of the Tennessee Highway Patrol has been a great honor. His retirement is effective Tuesday.