Thomas L Chittum III
Lawyer, Leader, Speaker, Executive, and Adjunct Law Professor
Tom retired from the Department of Justice as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). He spent more than two decades enforcing federal law and served as a high-ranking federal law enforcement official. He now work for a public safety technology company, where he oversees a team of experienced professionals providing investigative, analytical, forensic, and litigation support. He regularly speaks on matters related to criminal justice, law enforcement, and firearms law to cabinet-level and other high-ranking government executives, industry trade groups, law enforcement officials, and in the national media.
Tom’s law enforcement career began in his home state of West Virginia in 1997. He has also been assigned to offices in Miami, FL; Louisville, KY; Las Vegas, NV; Seattle, WA; Detroit, MI; and multiple assignments in Washington, DC. He worked extensively in undercover assignments from 2002 to 2008. From 2005 to 2012 he regularly testified as an expert witness in federal court on firearms matters.
Tom has a BA in Criminal Justice from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia; an MS in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky; and a JD from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
He is a licensed attorney in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. He lives with his wife and three children in Kentucky.
- Gov & Administrative Law
- Administrative Law, Government Contracts, Government Finance, Legislative & Government Affairs
- White Collar Crime
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Appeals, Drug Crimes, Expungement, Fraud, Gun Crimes, Internet Crimes, Sex Crimes, Theft, Violent Crimes
- Investigations
- Compliance
- Firearms, Explosives, Arson
- Alcohol & Tobacco
- FaceTime
- Google Meet
- Skype
- Zoom
- Microsoft Teams
- WebEx
- Kentucky
- Kentucky Bar Association
- Virginia
- Virginia State Bar
- West Virginia
- West Virginia State Bar
- U.S. Supreme Court
- English
- Adjunct Law Professor
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Current
- Acting Deputy Director
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF)
- - Current
- Special Agent
- IRS Criminal Investigations
- -
- University of Nevada-Las Vegas
- J.D.
- Activities: Law Review - Articles Editor
- Eastern Kentucky University
- M.S.
- Marshall University
- B.A.
- Virginia State Bar  # 86465
- Member
- Current
- West Virginia State Bar  # 12462
- Member
- Current
- Kentucky Bar Association  # 96675
- Member
- Current
- The Federal Law of “Firearms Trafficking”
- Nevada Lawyer
- Can You Hear Me Now? Cell Phone Jamming and the Tenth Amendment
- Nevada Law Journal
- Local Prosecution of Gun Crime, National District Attorneys Association, Washington, DC
- NDAA
- Fighting Gun Crime in Cities
- U.S. Conference of Mayors
- Casings, Crumbs, and Camera: The Future of Law Enforcement Technology, Washington, DC
- GBEF
- History of Firearms Legislation, Symposium, Las Vegas, NV
- UNLV
- Firearms Law, Washoe Bar, Reno, NV