The Honorable Judge Ayana Harris is a graduate of the University of Miami and Howard University School of Law. She began her legal career as an assistant state public defender in Miami before joining the Miami office of the Federal Public Defender, where she handled a variety of complex federal criminal cases in United States District Court. She has served as a training attorney and has tried over 80 state and federal cases to verdict. Judge Harris was appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court by Governor Ron DeSantis in December 2019, and she is currently assigned to the North Dade Justice Center where she handles a hybrid civil and domestic violence docket.