In a ceremony held at the Landmark Center in St. Paul, Judge JaPaul Harris officially joined the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The event featured an introduction by Senior Judge Tanya Bransford and the oath was administered by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. Following tradition, Judge Harris' family assisted him in donning his judicial robe.
Judge Harris was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Tim Walz. His previous roles include serving as a district court judge in Ramsey County and as a judicial referee in Hennepin County.
During his tenure as a judge, Harris co-chaired the Minnesota Supreme Court Committee for Equality and Justice. He played a key role in developing diversity, equity, and inclusion training for Judicial Branch employees and officers. Additionally, he introduced statewide implicit bias jury instructions and contributed to initiatives aimed at improving access to courts across Minnesota.
Before his judicial appointments, Harris worked with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid's Senior Law Project, Minneapolis Public Schools, and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services' Housing Equality Law Project. He also served on the St. Paul Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity Commission from 2007 to 2018, chairing it from 2010 to 2018.
In recognition of his contributions, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter declared January 30, 2018, as "JaPaul Harris Day." Beyond his legal career, Harris has been involved in academia as an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline College of Law and currently teaches at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He is an alumnus of Syracuse University (2000) and Hamline University School of Law (2003).