D. Michael Dunavant
United States Attorney
Western District Of Tennesse
D. Michael Dunavant was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee on June 12, 2017, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 2017. On September 21, 2017, Chief United States District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson administered the oath to swear Mr. Dunavant into office, making him the 50th person to serve as the chief federal prosecutor for the Western District.
Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Dunavant was the elected District Attorney General for the 25th Judicial District of Tennessee, where he served as the chief state criminal prosecutor for Lauderdale, Tipton, Fayette, Hardeman, and McNairy counties in West Tennessee. Mr. Dunavant was first elected to serve as District Attorney in 2006, and was re-elected to the position in 2014. Prior to his service as District Attorney, Mr. Dunavant was a partner in the law firm of Carney, Wilder & Dunavant in Ripley, Tennessee. A native of Ripley, Tennessee, Mr. Dunavant holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree with honors from University of Mississippi at Oxford, and has been practicing law in West Tennessee since 1995.
As District Attorney General, Mr. Dunavant served as the President of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, and also served on the Legislative Committee, the Child Support Committee, and the Justice & Professionalism Committee. Mr. Dunavant was a member of the Tennessee Joint Task Force on Children’s Justice and Child Sexual Abuse, and has served on the Advisory Board of Directors for the Lauderdale County Carl Perkins Child Advocacy Center. In 2009, Mr. Dunavant received the CPIT Excellence Award from the Tennessee Chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers, for his commitment to a collaborative approach to investigations of child sexual abuse cases. In 2012, Mr. Dunavant was appointed by Governor Haslam to the Tennessee Medical Examiner Advisory Council, where he served along with Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dryzehner and others to develop best practices and policies regarding the medical examiner system and how forensic pathologists perform and report autopsy findings. Mr. Dunavant has been an active member of the Anti-Drug Coalition of Tipton County, and a member of the Covington Rotary Club. Mr. Dunavant also served with other District Attorneys across the State on a Sovereign Citizen Working Group of the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security, to better identify and respond to criminal activity and threats by sovereign citizen individuals and organizations. In 2015, Mr. Dunavant was the recipient of the DUI Prosecutor of the Year award from the Governor's Highway Safety Office West Tennessee Law Enforcement Network for his work in impaired driving prosecutions. In 2014, Mr. Dunavant and his wife, Marianne, were the recipients of the “Champion of Victims’ Rights Award” by the Trauma, Faith, and Resilience Initiative, for their work in the area of crime victims’ rights and advocacy.
Mr. Dunavant and his family are active members of the First Baptist Church in Covington, and live in Tipton County.