A longtime Metro Nashville official who has served in senior leadership roles across multiple city departments has been placed on administrative leave after federal authorities executed a search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s administration confirmed Wednesday that John Honeysucker, assistant director of governmental and external affairs for Metro Nashville, is the employee under investigation.
“We are aware that there is an investigation ongoing of a Metro employee,” mayoral spokesman Alex Apple said in a statement to the Nashville Banner. “He is on administrative leave. Our Department of Law advised him that he would not be represented by the Department of Law and should retain counsel.”
Apple referred additional questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which later confirmed to the outlet that federal authorities executed a search warrant Wednesday but declined to provide further details as the investigation remains ongoing.
According to a source familiar with the investigation cited by the Nashville Banner, Metro Nashville is considered a “victim” of the alleged wrongdoing under investigation.
Honeysucker (pictured above) has held a series of senior positions within Metro government over the past decade. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has served as assistant director of governmental and external affairs since September 2024, where his responsibilities include overseeing political matters, mediating concerns across multiple departments, serving as a liaison to Metro Council and the public, and coordinating sensitive governmental affairs.
Before assuming his current position, Honeysucker served as assistant director of Waste Services from 2021 to 2024, overseeing Metro Nashville’s trash and recycling operations.
Earlier, he worked as special assistant to the director of Metro Water Services and previously served as an administrative service officer with the department, representing Metro Water before the Metro Council, managing executive budget matters, and assisting with legislation affecting the city’s water and sewer systems.
In addition to his Metro duties, the Tennessee Courts System lists Honeysucker as a general civil mediator on its website. Court records indicate he has been listed since April 2015 and is approved to mediate civil disputes in Davidson, Hamilton, Hardeman, Madison, and Shelby counties.
Honeysucker also worked briefly as a loan officer at Fifth Third Bank and as a property consultant for three years at Cornerstone Management in Madison.
During a 2022 interview discussing Nashville’s rapid growth, Honeysucker repeatedly emphasized the importance of government accountability, saying Metro employees “work for the constituents” and “should be held accountable to do things in the right way.”
“We have to be held accountable and be responsive to the constituents,” Honeysucker said at the time. “We owe that to them because they pay our salaries.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Image “John Honeysucker” by RobHarrisforNashville.
