Jeri Holladay Thomas BIO
Jeri H. Thomas is the CEO of Judge Seth Norman Recovery Foundation, a community based 501c3 non-profit organization established by Judge Norman in 1996 to help the substance abuse problem in the criminal justice system. She received her Master of Criminal Justice degree in 2000 and Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 1996 from Middle Tennessee State University. She began her career in Davidson County in 1997 as a DUI probation officer for Judge Frank Clement. In 2001, began working as the program evaluator/coordinator for the Davidson County Drug Court, founded by the “Grandfather of Tennessee Drug/Recovery Courts”, the Late Judge Seth W. Norman.
In 2004, she began working in non-profit management where she dedicated over (16) sixteen years to the expansion, enhancement and sustainability of the Davidson County Drug Court to include a program for methamphetamine/prescription drug offenders, a program for participants in the Davidson County Mental Health Court and a drug court alumni association. Her work includes assisting in the establishment and expansion of a non-residential felony recovery court in 2011 to help serve the 7 counties of the 13 th
Judicial District located in Cookeville, Tennessee. Jeri has been instrumental in the planning, establishment and sustainability of (2) additional statewide residential recovery courts using “a unique alternative sentencing model founded by Judge Norman” in lieu of prison for adult non-violent justice involved men and women with substance use disorders from every judicial district across Tennessee.
- Expanding residential for men: In 2013, as a part of Governor Haslam’s Public Safety Plan, together with Judge Norman, the Departments of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Corrections and Safety, the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court (presided over by Judge Mike Pemberton) was established for adult male nonviolent felony offenders with substance use disorders from referring recovery courts across the state.
- Expanding residential for women: In 2022, the Women’s Residential Recovery Court ofTennessee, (presided over by Judge Angelita Dalton), opened and began providing the same opportunity for women.
Her role today includes working together with Judges Dalton and Pemberton, the administration of Tennessee’s only gender specific statewide long-term court-supervised alternative sentencing programs and continuing to work together with the recovery community, along with stakeholders and policy makers at the federal, state and local levels on issues related to substance abuse and crime.
She has co-authored an article published in the Tennessee Bar Journal: “Drug Court Success – Outcomes and Cost Savings of an Innovative Residential Drug Court Treatment Program for Felony Offenders” (2015); presented at the CAPTASA Annual Conference on “Applications of the Principles in Treatment of Addictions and Substance Abuse” (2014); National Association of Drug Court Professionals Conference on “Drug Court Foundations – Community Backing and Buy in” (2012); “Using the Drug Court Model to Provide Residential Treatment Services within a Criminal Justice Facility” (2012); and the Bi-National Conference of Demand Reduction in Monterrey, Mexico (2008). She is one of the founding members of TN-ARR (Tennessee Alliance of Recovery Residences) where she serves as a volunteer member of the Advisory and Advocacy Committees. TN-ARR is Tennessee’s sole nationally recognized certifying body for recovery housing, affiliated with the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR).