Vernon L. Harris was born in Chicago, IL, and moved to Phoenix, AZ, at the age of 12. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 1987. Upon graduating from the Arizona State University College of Law in 1990, Vernon became a gang prosecutor with Maricopa County Attorney Office. He had one of his trials aired on national television by CBS in a special titled CBS Reports: Enter the Jury and has over 150 jury trials under his belt and countless bench trials. He went on to practice civil law for a number of years as well as serve as a Judicial Officer in Maricopa Court Superior Court, the city of Phoenix Municipal Court and Glendale City Court. Vernon started working for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in 2001 in the Criminal/Civil Litigation and Advice Section and currently in the Protective Services Section. He has been twice awarded the Litigation Attorney of the year award, as well as the Outstanding Advocate and the Team Player Award . He held the position of Senior Litigation counsel before assuming his current position of Unit Chief Counsel in the Litigation Support Unit . In this position, Vernon trains attorneys on case litigation and handling of complex and high profile cases.