Deborah Harris

Early History/Schooling: Ms. Harris received a B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Following law school, she was a Prettyman Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic where she received her LL.M. in Trial Advocacy. 

Tenure as Section Chief: Deborah Harris has served as Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section since April 2014. As Chief, she supervises an office of 42 prosecutors responsible for the prosecution of environmental and wildlife crimes nationwide in conjunction with United States Attorney’s Offices, as well as state and local prosecutors.

Ms. Harris coordinates national legislative, policy, and training efforts in the criminal enforcement program, and co-chairs the Department’s Environmental Crimes Policy Committee, which is comprised of senior attorneys from the Environmental Crimes Section, experienced Assistant United States Attorneys, and representatives of federal investigative agencies, including EPA and the FBI, Coast Guard, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Career: Ms. Harris has worked in the Environmental Crimes Section since November 1999. Prior to becoming Section Chief, Ms. Harris served for eight years as a trial attorney and a senior trial attorney, and for seven years as an Assistant Section Chief. During her tenure with the Justice Department, Ms. Harris has prosecuted environmental crimes throughout the United States and developed expertise dealing with Worker Endangerment, the Clean Air Act, and fraud under the act's Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Before joining the Environmental Crimes Section, Ms. Harris was a Staff Attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia from 1992 to 1999.