Judd Ellis Matheny (April 9, 1970 – April 2, 2024) was an American Republican politician in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, who served as County Mayor for Coffee County, Tennessee, from 2022 until his death in 2024. Previously he represented the 47th district as state representative.Official Capitol biography
/ref> His district included all or parts of

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

Warren Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * War ...

counties. He served in the state house from 2002 to 2018. He succeeded Doyle Lewis Jr.

Biography

Judd Matheny was born on April 9, 1970, in Knoxville. Matheny enlisted with the

Tennessee Army National Guard The Tennessee Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. It is administered by the Tennessee Military Department. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained ...

Winchester, Tennessee Winchester is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Winchester micropolitan area. The population of Winchester as of the 2020 census was 9,375. History Winchester was created as the seat o ...

, and graduated from

Tullahoma High School Tullahoma High School is a public high school located in Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee, Coffee County, Tennessee. It is operated by the Tullahoma City Schools. Campus The current high school in Tullahoma was established on the North Jack ...

in Tullahoma, in 1988.https://web.archive.org/web/20070919041231/http://www.juddmatheny.com/resume.html "Resume Judd Matheny". September 19, 2007. Retrieved from Internet Archive on February 5, 2016. Matheny remained with the Tennessee Army National Guard until 1995. Matheny was employed as a reserve deputy sheriff by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department in 1990 and 1991, and then began worked as a full-time police officer with the city of

Baxter, Tennessee Baxter is a city in Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,578 at the United States Census, 2010, 2020 census.Tennessee Department of Economic and Community DevelopmentCertified Population of Tennessee Incorporated Municipal ...

, from 1991 through 1993. He became a special agent for the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, where he worked within many liquor and narcotic related duties from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, Matheny founded Advanced Protective Services, Inc., which specialized in private investigations, executive protection, electronic surveillance and counter-surveillance, training, and security consulting to a number of prominent corporations doing business in the Nashville area. He employed approximately thirty full-time, armed guards and about "250 police officers in an off-duty, uniformed capacity." Matheny retired from APS, Inc. and sold this business in August 2002. Matheny completed his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

correspondence degree in Criminal Justice and Political Science from

Excelsior University Excelsior University is a private online university in Albany, New York. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and comprises three schools: the school of undergraduate studies, the school of graduate studies, and the school of nursing. ...

(based in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

) in 2000. Matheny was chairman of the Coffee County Republican Party and was also a member of the

Chambers of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to adv ...

of Tullahoma,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and McMinnville. He was also a member of the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

, the

National Wild Turkey Federation The National Wild Turkey Federation is an international non-profit organization whose mission is 'the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.' It currently has more than 250,000 members in the United States ...

, and Quail Unlimited. He was a

Master Mason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, and a member of the Tullahoma

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

. Matheny was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. He had two children, Abigail and Aulden. Matheny endorsed

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

in the Republican primary for the 2012 presidential election. He endorsed

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

in the Republican primary for the 2016 presidential election. In 2017, Matheny announced that he would run for

Tennessee's 6th congressional district The 6th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican John Rose since January 2019. Much of the sixth district is rural and wooded. It is spread across the geographic ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Death

On April 2, 2024, Matheny was found dead inside a vehicle in the driveway of his Coffee County home. He was 53. The

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the state of Tennessee. It has statutory authority to conduct criminal investigations and make arrests of crimes occurring throughout the state. The bureau is ...

said it was investigating the cause of death. However, the district attorney announced in a press conference that there was no evidence of foul play nor suicide. On May 15, 2024, County Medical Examiner Jay M. Trussler reported that a mixture of cocaine, alcohol, and Kratom contributed to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheny, Judd 1970 births 2024 deaths Excelsior College alumni Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives American Lutherans Law enforcement officials from Tennessee Methodists from Tennessee American deputy sheriffs American municipal police officers Tennessee National Guard personnel Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly