City Chief of Staff on unpaid leave after arrest

A member of the leadership staff for the City of Jackson was booked today in the Madison County Criminal Justice Center on two charges after turning himself in.

Roland Alexander “Alex” Reed, 40, of Jackson, was charged by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on one charge of stalking and one charge of electronic tracking of a motor vehicle, according to a press release from the TBI.

According to the statement, Jody Pickens, the attorney general for the 26^th judicial district of Tennessee, requested in September TBI special agents to investigate charges against Reed for tracking a citizen’s vehicle.

The investigation determined that Reed was allegedly responsible for placing a tracking device on a vehicle without the owner’s consent and tracked it “for a period of time” according to the release.

Upon conclusion of the investigation, Pickens recused his office from the case, and Mike Dunavant and Meghan Fowler were appointed to represent the state in the case. Dunavant is a former U.S. District Attorney.

The Madison County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Reed with the chargers, and he turned himself in to the Madison County Jail on April 3.

Reed has been the chief of staff for Jackson Mayor Scott Conger since Conger first took office in July of 2019 after managing his election campaign that year.

Conger confirmed through a text message that Reed has been placed on administrative leave without pay and has turned in all city-issued items.

“He will remain on administrative leave without pay until a verdict is rendered,” Conger said.

This arrest comes nearly a decade after Reed had to leave a former job on the communications staff for the Arkansas Secretary of State when he used about $20,000 in unauthorized disbursements from a campaign fund to feed his gambling addiction. After getting caught trying to pay the money back to the fund, Reed was put on leave from that job and returned to Jackson soon after.