POST Commission accepts two-year suspension settlement for former trooper Albert Smith

The Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission on Aug. 29 approved a negotiated settlement in the disciplinary matter involving former Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Albert Smith, accepting a two-year suspension retroactive to Dec. 21, 2022.

The agreement, presented to the commission by Steven Leffler, an attorney representing Smith, proposes a two-year suspension and requires Smith to complete in-service training for 2024 and 2025 and to attend transitional training at a law enforcement training academy. Leffler told commissioners the counterproposal was twice the length of an earlier offer and outlined inconsistencies in evidence that he said supported the settlement instead of a formal hearing. “This offer was for two years retroactive to the date he left the Tennessee Highway Patrol,” Leffler said during his presentation.

The commission discussed the background of the matter, including a prior administrative hearing and a criminal investigation by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office that, Leffler said, concluded there were no grounds for criminal prosecution. Commissioners asked whether Smith currently held an active certification; staff said his POST certification remained active while the case was pending and that no certification had been revoked. Director Bello clarified that the suspension would be reported to national databases and would not be an expungement.

Commissioners also discussed practical effects of a suspension “with prejudice” in this administrative context. Legal staff explained that a settlement with those terms would close the specific Shelby County incident in the administrative file while leaving the underlying record available to regulators and employers; it would not erase the record from POST or national systems.

A motion to accept the settlement, as presented, carried after a voice vote. The commission recorded the action as acceptance of the offered settlement; commissioners instructed staff to record the two-year suspension and to track completion of the training conditions specified in the agreement.

The commission’s action resolves a matter that had been pending for more than two years: Leffler told commissioners the case had been on the docket since March 2023 and was scheduled for an October administrative hearing if the settlement had not been accepted.

Ending

POST staff will track the training conditions and the commission directed that the suspension be reported as required. The commission will receive follow-up information on Smith’s compliance with the training obligations and the transitional-school requirement.