More than 400 Shelby County deputies and jailers will have to retake psychological testing after officials learned the psychologist who did earlier testing had not been licensed by the state for 18 years.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Sheriff Floyd Bonner discussed the impact during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. They said at least 402 are affected by the error.

"From the sheriff’s office standpoint, it looks like we have 214 deputy sheriffs that will have to be retested and 188 jailers that will have to be retested," Bonner said. "Within the sheriff’s office, that’s all we have."

Harris said the number of county employees could also include corrections officers, dispatchers, firefighters, process officers, juvenile detention officers and court officers. He said, however, that investigators are checking with the state and he can't say right now if those other employees will have to be retested.

"Those are the ones that Dr. (Charles) Kenny has administered a psychological test for beginning in 2013," Harris said. 

Dr. Lisa Alex, who has conducted testing for the Memphis Police Department, will be retained to do future testing of the county employees. 

In December, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance informed the Shelby County Sheriff's Office that there was an issue with the qualification of Memphis psychologist Dr. Charles T. Kenny, who performed the psychological assessments in 2013. The state said the Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission, or POST, raised questions about Kenny’s qualification when he was listed on paperwork for performing the psychological profiles for SCSO deputies.

Bonner said POST officials came to Memphis and conducted an audit into the matter. He said he then traveled to Nashville in December to meet with the POST Commission and at that time, they didn't think they would have to retest the officers. He said Kenny appeared at the meeting and told state officials with POST that his license was expired. 

"Dr. Kenny told POST that his license had expired, but he was good to work under another doctor’s license and that’s what he told POST. Whether that’s true or not, POST didn’t rule on it at the time. After consideration, they decided that was not good enough and are saying that we have to retest," Bonner said. 

Kenny’s license to practice in Tennessee expired in 2001, but he was being supervised by Dr. John T. Johnson. Johnson is a licensed psychologist who works in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Kenny signed the psychological evaluations for SCSO deputies, which had been the process from 2013 until last year. At that time, the state raised questions about Kenny's license. 

The state requires that licensed in-state psychologists perform the evaluations, which are required for all law enforcement personnel. 

Initially, officials said 200 deputies would be impacted by the incident. However, at Wednesday’s press conference, authorities said a greater number of jailers and deputies were affected. 

Bonner said his department is not in charge of the hiring process, as hiring of the sheriff's department was turned over to the county's human resources department in 2005. 

The retesting for the county deputies is set to begin Jan. 25 and will cost $40,000 to re-evaluate the 214 deputies. The jailers will then take the test. 

"We are researching whether or not there is civil and criminal liability and whether or not we are able to recoup some of our expenses associated with this from that third party."

Lee Harris, Shelby County mayor

Harris and Bonner said they have not received an official letter from the state on a complete list of employees that must be retested, but they said they wanted to be transparent and get ahead of the issue and start testing now. 

Harris said an investigation will be completed in about five weeks. 

"We are researching whether or not there is civil and criminal liability and whether or not we are able to recoup some of our expenses associated with this from that third party," Harris said. "It was a 2013 decision to hire Dr. Kenny and allow this type of structure to proceed, and so we are not in a position to say who is at fault right now."

Kenny is owner and president of a marketing firm called The Right Brain People and Kenny & Associates Inc. He signed a contract with the county in February 2018 under then-Mayor Mark Luttrell. He was paid $40,000 to do psychological assessments for the county's public safety employees. The contract with the county was renewed in July and was set to expire June 30.

According to his LinkedIn page, Right Brain People is in its 40th year of “helping clients build power and equity into their brands." 

The company states on its website that it has worked with 600 of “America’s top companies,” including McDonald’s, Walmart, Wells Fargo and First Tennessee.

Kenny could not be immediately reached for comment at his Memphis office.