By JANET McGregor
jmac-snippets@email.msn.com

Steve Harris, solicitor of Fayette State Court, announced at the Fayette County Republican Breakfast Saturday that he will run for reelection.

This will be Harris' second four-year term if elected. Harris was the first solicitor elected to the newly formed State Court in 1997. When he took office there was a two to three year backlog of close to 300 cases pending. According to Harris, the court has dispensed with all of the older cases and is now hearing cases on a current basis.

The solicitor prosecutes misdemeanor criminal cases from the Magistrate Court or a city court, which are punishable by less than one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. The cases range from traffic offenses and property damage to theft, drugs and violent crimes.

Harris was graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1973 and was graduated Summa Cum Laude from John Marshall Law School.

He has been the vice president of the Fayette County Bar Association, has an extensive criminal and civil litigation background and served as a police officer with the Atlanta Police Department. Additionally, he was a detective/undercover narcotic agent assigned to the Federal Drug Task Force and an associate professor of Law at John Marshall Law School.

Harris is married to wife, Lyn, and has two sons, Chris and Matt. He is a native Georgian and has been a Fayette County resident for over 13 years.