Elizabethton Councilmember, Kim Birchfield, has been a public servant for a better part of his life.
And here recently he got a notification that he will get to extend his service under newly elected Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
Birchfield received a letter on Feb. 20 that informed him he had been appointed by Lee to the Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission as a citizen member.
“I’m very honored to be appointed by Governor (Bill) Lee to the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission,” said Birchfield. “Not only am I honored to be a part of P.O.S.T., but I’m also even more honored to be a part of Gov. Lee’s administration.”
For 33 years, Birchfield was a police officer with 30 of those years being completed in Tennessee while serving three years in Virginia. Birchfield also did a stint on the Elizabethton City School Board and has been a city councilman for three years now.
“Either through law enforcement or rescue squad, I have served the public my whole life,” said Birchfield. “It is just something that I love to do.”
The P.O.S.T. Commission, according to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance website, is ” responsible for developing and enforcing standards and training for all local police officers. The Commission also promotes continuing law enforcement training for the full-time peace officers in Tennessee. The Commission is composed of eighteen members and includes local law enforcement personnel, legislators, and Tennessee citizens who are not connected with law enforcement.”