 "I am grateful to Justice Rita Garman and the other members of the
Illinois Supreme Court for their vote of confidence in assigning me
to the 4th District Appellate Court. It is a humbling time for me. I
am looking forward to working with the justices of the appellate
court, all of whom I admire and respect," said Harris."I wish to
thank the citizens of Logan County. It has truly been an honor to
serve them these past years. I have done my best to preserve the
trust they placed in me. My hope is that those that have appeared in
our courtroom have come away with the sense that they have been
treated fairly and with respect.
"As a circuit judge I have been blessed to have worked with some
remarkable people, both the folks in our courthouse as well as my
fellow judges in the 11th Circuit. I will miss working with them."
Harris' caseload, including the Beason murder cases, will be
reassigned shortly to other judges in the 11th Judicial Circuit.
"I am confident that the judges in the 11th Circuit can absorb
Judge Harris' caseload and that citizens and legal community of
Logan County will not be disadvantaged in any way," said Chief Judge
Elizabeth A. Robb.
"This is a bittersweet event for us -- while we are extremely
pleased to have our colleague elevated to the Appellate Court, we
will miss his presence in the trial court. I comment Justice Garman
and the members of the Supreme Court in selecting Judge Harris. He
is a thoughtful judge and a legal scholar, and we are very proud to
have a judge assigned from our circuit," said Robb.
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Harris was appointed an associate circuit judge in 2007 and was
elected a resident circuit judge for Logan County in 2008.
He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois
in 1985 and his juris doctor from the University of Colorado in
1988.
Harris, a native of Lincoln, began his legal career as a Logan
County assistant state's attorney in 1988. He was in private
practice with the Lincoln law firm of Harris & Harris from 1988 to
1991 and with the Jerome Mirza and Associates firm in Bloomington
from 1991 to 2007.
He has been a judicial performance evaluation facilitator since
1997, is a member of the Special Supreme Court Committee to Study
Courtroom and Judicial Security, and served as a member of the
faculty for the Illinois Judicial Education Conference.
[Text from file received from
Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Robb, McLean County Circuit Court, 11th
Judicial Circuit]
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