NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee’s human services and insurance commissioners are both leaving their posts to return to private sector roles.
State officials on Tuesday confirmed the pending departures of Department of Human Services Commissioner Danielle Barnes and Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Hodgen Mainda.
Former Gov. Bill Haslam initially appointed Barnes to her post in 2017 and Gov. Bill Lee retained her last year.
The department says Barnes will depart in mid-November and Lee will name her replacement at a later date. Barnes began in 2004 as the department’s legislative coordinator and assistant general counsel.
Lee’s spokesman Gillum Ferguson said Mainda offered his resignation Tuesday and Lee accepted it. Mainda became commissioner last October.
Officials did not offers specifics about what the two commissioners planned to do in the private sector, other than saying Mainda intends to return to Chattanooga. Mainda previously served as vice president of community development at the Electric Power Board in Chattanooga.
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