Josh Smith, founder of the Knoxville-based Fourth Purpose Foundation, was appointed deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons last week.
Smith was convicted of 10 felonies by the time he was 16 and entered prison at age 21 as an 11th-grade dropout. For five years, he was incarcerated in a federal prison camp in Kentucky for his involvement in marijuana and cocaine trafficking.
After exiting prison in 2003, Smith built and sold the largest home improvement business in East Tennessee and dedicated a large portion of his wealth to “impacting prisons so that others may find the opportunity to transform their lives through prison.”
In 2019, Smith founded the Fourth Purpose Foundation, which addresses “root causes of incarceration and equipping individuals with tools for change” and advocates for
“prison transformation initiatives focused on restoring purpose, dignity, and hope within correctional facilities.”
Congratulations to my friend @Josh4thPurpose on his @POTUS appointment to serve as @OfficialFBOP Deputy Director.
After selecting Josh to serve on TN’s Criminal Justice Task Force, I was proud to advocate for his presidential pardon, & I’m confident he’ll serve our nation well. https://t.co/YrvyhgSlKq
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 7, 2025
Smith’s prison reform work also landed him a role on Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s Criminal Justice Reinvestment Task Force.
On January 13, 2021, President Donald Trump issued a full pardon for Smith.
Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall announced Smith’s appointment as deputy director on Friday in a memo to employees, explaining that in the role, Smith will “help ensure that the implementation of the First Step Act is not just compliant, but transformative.”
The First Step Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2018, is a bipartisan criminal justice bill that seeks to reduce harsh sentencing laws and improve prison conditions, including allowing inmates to bank “good time credit,” allowing inmates to be housed in facilities “as close to their primary residence as possible,” and other measures.
“Josh brings to this role something our agency has never had before at this level: a perspective shaped by lived experience, proven innovation, and national impact. Josh has spent more than two decades working with corrections leaders across the country and internationally to transform prison culture, support staff development, and reduce recidivism,” Marshall said in Friday’s memo to Bureau of Prisons employees.
“He is committed to making our agency stronger by investing in our people and promoting a culture where every staff member feels supported and respected,” Marshall added.
Smith was congratulated on his appointment by Governor Lee, who wrote in an X post, “After selecting Josh to serve on TN’s Criminal Justice Task Force, I was proud to advocate for his presidential pardon, and I’m confident he’ll serve our nation well.”
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs also congratulated Smith, writing on X, “Josh will bring passion and a unique perspective to this work. I’m proud to call him my friend and I know that he will make us all proud!”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Josh Smith” by Fourth Purpose.
