Bolivar Police Officer Aaron Hasapis is the first recipient of the Robert Kirk Lee Scholarship
dedicated to students pursuing a Criminal Justice at the UT Martin Selmer Center.
The scholarship was established by Robert’s wife, Susan, following his death in November 2022.
Former Sheriff Lee began serving as an adjunct professor at the Selmer Center when it opened
in 1978. He was beloved by his students.
One of my most enjoyable classroom experiences was when I presented an Interview and Interrogation class for him at the Center. We “picked at” one another throughout the entire class.
Robert had a great law enforcement career, beginning as a Tennessee State Trooper, where he
was assigned to the Governor’s Security Staff. He was the first Sheriff of McNairy to serve three terms.
The Criminal Justice Center in Selmer is named after him. He left the Sheriff’s office to become an Investigator with the THP/CID and later became a TBI Special Agent focusing on narcotics enforcement. He retired in 2015.
He and I were lifelong friends. We graduated from UT Martin together with our Criminal Justice
degrees in 1978. One of us was behind the other (Lee & Leach) when we walked through the line to receive our diplomas.
Several years ago, a young man who had just gone to work with the TBI came to me for advice
as to how he should conduct himself as a new agent. I talked to him briefly and then asked him if he had met S/A Robert Lee. He said, “Yes.”
I remember exactly what I told him. “You spend all the time you can with Robert. Watch what he does, and that’s what you need to do.”
R.I.P.
Jim Leach is a former Special Agent in Charge, TBI and Director of Criminal Investigations at the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
