Hugh Harris

General Counsel

Hugh Harris is the general counsel for the N.C. Department of Information Technology, where he leads all legal matters and advises the State Chief Information Officer and Secretary.    

Prior to joining NCDIT in March 2025, he was a deputy general counsel for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. While at NCDHHS, he provided legal advice to the Operational Excellence portfolio, which included the Budget Office, Office of Procurement Contracts and Grants, Human Resources Division and the Information Technology Division.  

In addition, Harris worked in the N.C. Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division as an assistant attorney general.  In that role, he litigated cases on behalf of the N.C. Attorney General’s Office based on North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practice law. In addition, he was a guest speaker at more than 150 events (including Continuing Legal Education and Continuing Professional Education events) as well as other events on topics concerning the N.C. Department of Justice’s response to the opioid epidemic, North Carolina's data breach law, identity theft, consumer protection, elder fraud and internet safety.  

Harris also has experience in worker’s compensation law, working for the N.C. Department of Justice's Workers Compensation Division and as a director with the N.C. Industrial Commission. He started his career as an assistant public defender in Asheville and then relocated to the Orange-Chatham County Public Defender’s Office.  

Harris is a board Member for Haven House Services in Raleigh. 

He earned his Juris Doctor from the North Carolina Central University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. 

He lives in Apex with his wife and three daughters.