CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Robert Nash was sworn in as District Attorney General for the 19th Judicial District Friday morning at the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Gov. Bill Lee’s appointment of Nash was announced Monday. Criminal Court of Appeals Judge Jill Ayers, formerly of the 19th Judicial District’s Circuit Court, conducted the swearing in ceremony.
“You know, going through this process, I can’t explain how honored and humbled I am. We had four individuals that applied, each with their own merit, and they should be commended,” Nash said after his swearing in.
He then paid homage to former District Attorney General John W. Carney Jr., who officially retired on Aug. 31. Nash will be taking over Carney’s vacancy.
“I know what he would want me to do is approach this position as a stewardship to make it that much better,” Nash said.
“There’s one other person I want to recognize,” Nash continued during his statement. “Fourteen years ago, I was in private practice, happened to be in General Sessions, and I run across an ADA who pulled me in the office and said, ‘We have an opening, would you think about joining us?’ I said, ‘I think that’s what I want to do,’ and that’s Helen Young.”
Young was serving as district attorney pro tem in the interim after Carney’s retirement.
“I’ve worked with some special people for the last 14 years, I know what they do every day. I know what battles they fight, I know what’s going on in this community,” Nash said about his colleagues at the District Attorney’s Office.
“Our job as the district attorney is to set the standard of what’s going to be acceptable and what’s not, and that’s what I plan on doing – continuing that same approach as I have for 14 years,” Nash said.
In addition to his wife Misty Poston, Nash also thanked the local, state and national representatives and officials for attending, including Congressman Mark Green.
“I think he’s the right man for the job at the right time. I mean his passion is for victims of crime and he will be a warrior – a real fighter for justice,” Green told Clarksville Now.
Sheriff John Fuson, who also was in attendance at Friday’s ceremony, agreed.
“I don’t doubt at all that he’ll do what’s required of him just like he has an assistant district attorney,” Fuson added.
Nash’s appointment as district attorney general will continue the end of the current term. Nash will have to run in the August 2022 county election, when the DA position will be on the ballot. The primary will be in May 2022.