Former Arkansas federal prosecutor appointed to judicial disciplinary body

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Patrick Harris, a veteran federal prosecutor and law school instructor, has been appointed to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Committee by Attorney General Tim Griffin.

The appointment comes two days after online news site The Intercept revealed Griffin’s previous appointee to the committee, former U.S. Attorney Duane “Dak” Kees, had resigned after publication of an article that Kees left the federal prosecutor’s job three years ago while he was under investigation for ethical misconduct.

The nine-member Judicial Discipline and Disability Committee oversees ethics and other complaints against members of the state’s judiciary “on and off the bench.” Griffin appointed Kees to the committee in June 2023. Three judges are appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court, three lawyers by the attorney general and the leaders of the House and Senate, and three public members who are not lawyers or judges by the governor.

Harris joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law as director of advocacy in 2022 after 37 years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas in various positions.

“Patrick Harris has a long and distinguished record of public service, not only as a federal prosecutor of murder, RICO, extortion, kidnapping and public-corruption cases, but also as a longtime adjunct professor of law at the Bowen Law School and now as its Director of Advocacy supervising adjunct professors and the mock trial and moot court teams,” Griffin said in a statement.

Griffin noted he worked with Harris on two occasions while Harris was with the federal prosecutor’s office. The attorney general said Harris’ courtroom experience will be an asset to the judicial disciplinary committee.

Harris’ appointment lasts through June 30, 2029.

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