October 21, 2021
By:
Longtime Smithville attorney, civic leader and community volunteer, Tecia Puckett Pryor, announces her intention to seek election for DeKalb County General Sessions and Juvenile Judge, a part-time position. Puckett Pryor has been in the private practice of law in DeKalb County for 24 years, having practiced with her aunt, Sue N. Puckett-Jernigan, for her first 23 years until Ms. Puckett-Jernigan’s retirement in 2020.
A lifelong DeKalb Countian, Puckett Pryor graduated from DeKalb County High School in 1989, with highest honors. She furthered her education at Belmont University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in English and French in 1993, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1997, graduating in the top twenty-five of her class.
After graduating law school, Puckett Pryor moved back home to Smithville to practice law with her aunt and to also be involved in the Smithville/DeKalb County community.
Puckett Pryor has a diverse general law practice and has consistently practiced in the General Sessions and Juvenile Courts of DeKalb County throughout her tenure as a lawyer. She is also a trained family law mediator and owns and operates Center Hill Title, LLC, a full-service title company.
Puckett Pryor was a founding board member of Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County, Tennessee, Inc., and continues to serve on its development committee as race director of the Fiddler 5K and a member of the Chili Cook-off Committee. She is also a member of the Smithville Community Chorus and Indian Creek Baptist Church, currently serving as one of the pianists, and formerly volunteered and was in leadership with the Smithville Women’s Club, DeKalb Jaycees, the Humane Society of DeKalb County, Autism Tennessee and Cub Scouts. Puckett Pryor graduated from Leadership DeKalb in 2000 and was named DeKalb County Community Leader of the Year in 2007.
On the state level, Puckett Pryor is a governor-appointed member and the Chair of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, being one of the representatives from the Upper Cumberland Development District. She was first appointed to the Council by Governor Haslam in 2013 and was later governor-appointed to serve as Chair of the Council in 2017, a post she still holds today.
On the prospect of running for Judge, Puckett Pryor says, “I am excited about the possibility of becoming the DeKalb County General Sessions and Juvenile Court Judge. I have many years of legal, life and leadership experiences that have shaped me into a person well-suited to being a judge. I look forward to the opportunity to further serve my community in this important position.”
Puckett Pryor is married to John Pryor, an attorney and current teacher at DCHS and the Voice of the Tigers on WJLE. They have one son, Harrison, who is a senior at DCHS. Puckett Pryor is the sister of Mary Ann Puckett; the daughter of the late Hearon and Ann Nixon Puckett; and the granddaughter of the late Harrison and Lou Parsley Puckett and Rev. Hubert and Winnie Turner Nixon, all life-long DeKalb County residents.
Puckett Pryor will be running in the Democratic Primary in May 2022.