Former US Attorney Mike Dunavant tapped by Trump to head TN Western District, again

by Lucas Finton
July 1, 2025
  • Former U.S. Attorney Mike Dunavant has been nominated by President Trump to his previous position in the Western District of Tennessee.
  • Dunavant served in the same role during Trump’s first term.
  • The position has been filled by interim and acting U.S. attorneys since Kevin Ritz became a judge.

President Donald Trump tapped Mike Dunavant to return as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee on July 1.

The position has been held by interim and acting U.S. attorneys since Kevin Ritz — now a judge for the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals — left the role. Dunavant held the role during Trump’s first term, leaving in 2021 after now-former President Joe Biden was sworn in.

The appointment will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The nomination is for a term of four years.

“I am honored to be nominated to serve again as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, and I am thankful to President Trump for his trust and confidence. I look forward to the Senate confirmation process,” Dunavant said in a Facebook post.

D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee speaks at the Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building in Memphis Nov. 13, 2019 to announce the launch of Project Guardian, a nationwide effort to reduce gun violence.

Since leaving the role in 2021, Dunavant has served as the deputy executive director of legal services and policy for the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. In that position, he worked on legislation and also the child support divisions of the conference.

Prior to the role, he worked as chief investigative counsel for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.

Who is Mike Dunavant?

Dunavant earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville before earning his law degree at the University of Mississippi.

During his first term as U.S. Attorney, Dunavant was a key leader in Operation LeGend, a 2020 effort to bring federal law enforcement agents into Memphis to suppress gun violence. The move was met with scrutiny from locals and some local leaders, with Dunavant eventually defending the operation to the Memphis City Council.

“With all due respect to the council, no one’s permission is necessary for us to surge these federal resources into Memphis,” he said at the meeting.

His office handled cases with international ties, such as a South Korean company that was accused of using a contract scheme to defraud the military when it did construction work for an Army base. It also prosecuted Cornelius Richmond for an attempted robbery of an armored truck and a convenience store.

This article was originally published by The Commercial Appeal.