About your District Attorney

Kassie Coleman was sworn in as the District Attorney for the 10th Circuit Court District, which serves Lauderdale, Clarke, Kemper, and Wayne counties, on November 2, 2018. Kassie, was born and raised in Lauderdale County. 

After graduating from Southeast Lauderdale in 1996, Kassie moved to Hattiesburg, MS to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned a Bachelor of Arts  in Journalism, with highest honors distinction, from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1999. After completing her undergraduate studies, Kassie relocated to Jackson, MS to attend law school at Mississippi College. In 2003 received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Mississippi College School of Law. During law school Kassie served on the Moot Court Board and Law Review. 

In 2003 Kassie began what she consistently describes as her “dream job” serving as a prosecutor at the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. Kassie first served as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Public Integrity Division where she prosecuted  a multitude of felony cases across the state ranging from public corruption cases to capital murder cases. Later, Kassie became Mississippi’s first Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor within the Prosecutor’s Training Division of the Attorney General’s Office. In this role Kassie served as a special prosecutor in DUI death and DUI maiming cases. She also trained fellow prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and judges in traffic related subject matters. 

In 2006, Kassie returned to Hattiesburg to work as an Assistant District Attorney in the 12thCircuit Court District (Forrest and Perry counties) prosecuting violent crimes. Those cases included Murder, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, gang-involved crimes, as well all crimes committed against women and children.  

In September 2014, Kassie was given the opportunity to move back home to Lauderdale County to work as an Assistant District Attorney. In November 2018, Kassie was appointed by then Governor Phil Bryant as the District Attorney. The following November Kassie was humbled by the voters’ decision to elect her their District Attorney. 

Kassie serves as a member of the Mississippi Board of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. She is also an instructor for the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officer’s Training Academy. Kassie is a past-president of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association; and she continues to serve the association as the Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee, a Board Member, and member of the Curriculum Committee. Kassie was an active member of the Young Lawyers Division of the Mississippi Bar, having served on the Board of Directors in multiple capacities. Kassie was honored to be appointed as a Commission Member for the Commission for Study of Domestic Abuse Proceedings. She is a member of the Lauderdale County Bar Association and the National District Attorney’s Association.

In 2020, Kassie was honored with the Outstanding Local Prosecutor award from U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kassie is married to Jay Mercer and they are members of Gateway Community Church in Lauderdale, MS. She is the daughter of Coach Jerry Coleman, who spent 37 years as a dedicated coach, teacher and principal at Southeast Lauderdale and Kathy Harper Coleman, a beautician who operated her own shop in Meridian for more than thirty years.