A Legacy of Excellence & Service

When Kelsi Pratt graduated from The King’s Academy in 2012, she left an indelible mark on The King’s Academy. Her teachers and classmates fondly recall her intense competitiveness on the soccer pitch, her thirst for knowledge that led her to study abroad in Oxford as a rising sophomore (yes, sophomore), her sweet spirit, and the perpetual smile she displayed throughout campus.

The affinity was mutual. Today, Kelsi credits her TKA and Oxford experiences for igniting her passion for excellence and her drive to serve. Her Spanish classes at TKA particularly fueled her keen interest in Latino culture.

After TKA, Kelsi played NCAA Division II soccer at Brevard College in North Carolina. She graduated summa cum laude in April 2016, with a major in Psychology and minors in Criminal Justice and Spanish. At Brevard, she held memberships in numerous honor societies, served as a resident advisor, and took advantage of Brevard’s offer to study in Costa Rica.

She continued her studies at the University of Denver Graduate School, earning an MA in Forensic Psychology with a Latin Psychology Specialty in June 2018. Consistent with her previous educational endeavors, she studied abroad in Santiago and Concepción, Chile.

Kelsi earned the Doctor of Jurisprudence at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) College of Law in May 2021. Co-curricular activities there included Law Women; Christian Legal Society; American Bar Association; and Knoxville Bar Association.

Other related activities throughout her training include:

• Research for and attendance at local, state, and national substance use presentations;
• Interviews and assessments with youth ages 6–18 and their families to determine appropriate levels of care and services (e.g., mental health, substance abuse, mentoring, recreational) for the Juvenile Assessment Center in Denver;
• Restructuring Truancy Court to screen for level of risk; and
• Observing psychology’s role in police interactions with victims and the accused, and collecting evidence from raids, burglaries, kidnappings, and assaults as an intern with the Knox County Sheriff’s Tennessee Forensics Unit.

With the sponsorship of the late Hon. O. Duane Slone, she was sworn in as a licensed attorney by a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice in November 2021. Judge Slone then swore her in as Assistant District Attorney in Tennessee’s 4th District.

Today, as Assistant DA for Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson, and Sevier Counties, she is sworn to seek truth and justice regardless of the outcomes. She is often called on to protect the communities of East Tennessee by requesting the Court to restrict the behaviors of certain persons. She is equally concerned about helping such persons exit the justice system cycle. She readily embraces opportunities to serve underrepresented populations and is keenly supportive of recovery courts, particularly the Tennessee Recovery Oriented Compliance Strategy (TN-ROCS) that was started in Jefferson County, aimed at helping struggling individuals turn their lives around.

Kelsi is the co-author of numerous papers related to the use of force and the militarization of police. She has received specialized training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Innocence Lost Task Force of the Rocky Mountain FBI, Essential Elements of Drug Courts Training in Tennessee, and the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative.

Kelsi met Josh Mower when they were athletes at Brevard College. They have now been married for seven years and reside in Knoxville. Kelsi and Josh have two sons, Obadiah and Oliver, “who are the best outward representation of our relationship.” Apart from her important responsibilities in the District Attorney’s office, Kelsi says, “I try to soak up the time with my little family and raise good humans who know Jesus.”