I am Jason Lawson, and I humbly ask for your vote to continue serving as your District Attorney General for the 15th Judicial District. I was appointed to this position last year, first by the judges of our district as interim DA, and then by Governor Lee to fill the remaining term of retiring General Tommy Thompson.
Serving as your DA is one of the great honors of my life. I believe that our criminal justice system is only as strong as our prosecutors. Our job is to assess each situation, each crime, each defendant. We have to know how to be fair, when to extend a second chance, and when to remove a person from our community. That is why we become prosecutors—we want to come to a situation, invest ourselves, make things better and see justice done. Each case is an opportunity to get it right, to stand up for victims and show the public that we are the prosecutors they want to see. Our service is vitally important.
Since becoming DA I have sought and obtained more resources so we can give more individual attention to each case. I added our first Spanish speaking employee to better communicate with victims and witnesses. I added a third DA’s office in Carthage to make services more accessible to people in all five counties.
To share about myself, I was raised in Watertown, the son of Javin and Cindy (Fuston) Lawson. Our family business was logging, teaching me valuable experiences that built my work ethic. I attended MTSU on academic scholarship where I was elected student body president. I graduated with honors from UT law school where I won Outstanding Courtroom Argument my final year and Outstanding Written Argument each of my last two years. After graduation, I moved to Mt. Juliet and married my wonderful wife Christy, a pre-school teacher. We are blessed with two sons, Avery and Everett. Our faith is a central part of our life. We are active in our church, where Christy teaches the children’s program and I teach the teen program.
Professionally, I joined the DA’s office right out of law school in 2002. I worked alongside General Thompson for the last twenty years and learned first-hand his approach to criminal justice. Over my career, I have earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor who has tried many jury trials involving nearly every crime, even including the conviction of a serial killer. In 2020 alone, I won murder trials in Macon, Smith, Wilson, and Jackson Counties. I have even been recognized as one of Tennessee’s top prosecutors by the state-wide prosecutor’s conference. Although my experience is vast, it is my passion for this service that makes me the right person for this office. I will never forget that I work for you, and I will always be available to you. I humbly ask for your vote on May 3 and your continued support and prayers as I serve as your District Attorney.
