BIO

Commissioner Bilenda Harris-Ritter is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she received a B.A. degree in Journalism. She received her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law, also in Los Angeles. At Southwestern she served as Parliamentarian of The Associated Students of Southwestern. Ms. Harris-Ritter practiced civil law and Crime Victim Rights law in Northern California and was certified by the State Bar of California as a specialist in Workers Compensation Law until being appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the legal advisor to the Chairman of the Public Employment Relations Board for the State of California April, 2004. She served in that capacity until July,2006 when Governor Schwarzenegger appointed her as a Commissioner on the California Board of Parole Hearings. Following her service on the Parole Board she was a spokesperson for the Crime Victims' Rights voter initiative known as Marsy's Law and served as Executive Director of California Voice for Crime Victims, Inc. and Project Director of the Crime Victim Rights Enforcement Project providing pro bono legal representation to crime victims in Northern California until August 2010. At that time she became a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Criminal Justice Department. Ms. Harris-Ritter served four years as a member of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children Board of Trustees and is a founding member of the Crime Victims Rights Assistance Association of Arkansas. She served for several years as a member of the National Organization for Victims Assistance (NOVA) Board of Directors and as an Arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau. She is admitted to practice in Arkansas,California and the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas and Eastern District of California federal bar. She was a partner with Ritter Law in Maumelle, Arkansas for four years. She served as Assistant General Counsel for the Republican Party of Arkansas until January, 2015 when she accepted a position as Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Ms. Harris-Ritter currently serves as the State Attorney for the Arkansas Military Department and Arkansas Army National Guard. She served as one of the three Election Commissioners for Pulaski County from January, 2017 until her appointment March 30, 2018 as the Republican Designee on the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners. Her term as Commissioner expires March 30, 2022.