Jeff Holmes was appointed Interim Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services (DGS) by Governor Bill Lee, effective June 12, 2025. DGS provides critical operational support services to all other departments and agencies in Tennessee State Government. As commissioner, he oversees all divisions within DGS, including the Division of Administration, Central Procurement Office (CPO), Document Solutions, Real Estate Asset Management (STREAM), and Vehicle & Asset Management (VAM).

Jeff Holmes previously served as the Director of Planning for the Tennessee Board of Regents, which consists of 37 institutions of higher education, ranking it the largest system of public higher education in Tennessee. There, he oversaw the execution of over $1 billion to expand and update 29 major projects within the Tennessee Board of Regents system statewide.

After 43 years of military service, he retired from the National Guard in 2023 with the rank of Major General. His final military position was serving as the 75th Adjutant General of Tennessee and commander of the Tennessee National Guard. Major General Holmes commanded armor and armored cavalry units at the company, battalion, and brigade levels. He served as an armored cavalry squadron commander in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and again as the Regimental Commander in Iraq in 2010 with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Duty with warfighting units includes the 1st Infantry Division, the 42nd Infantry Division, and the 3rd Infantry Division.

Major General Holmes’ national-level positions include serving as the Deputy Chief of Engineers in the Pentagon and Deputy Commanding General for First Army, an Army-level command responsible for assisting the Commanding General with the training, readiness, and mobilization of all Army National Guard and Army Reserve units across the United States and two U.S. territories.

Holmes is a registered architect licensed in Tennessee and was the former president of the State’s oldest architectural engineering firm. He has served on numerous boards, most recently as an Ex Officio member at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business’s Aerospace & Defense. In 2012, he founded J Holmes Architecture as a service-disabled small business architectural firm. His experience includes architectural design, project management, planning, and coordination of all types of projects with emphasis on Department of Defense, governmental, higher education, and healthcare projects.

He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, and is a National Security Fellow from the JFK School of Public Policy at Harvard University. He resides with his wife, Rhonda, in Lascassas, TN.