Sonya Harrell joined the Office of General Counsel in 2016. Prior to joining OGC, she was a special magistrate for the City of Jacksonville Beach. Prior to working for the City of Jacksonville Beach, she was an Assistant and Associate Professor at Florida Coastal School of Law where she taught a variety of classes including State and Local Government, Florida Constitutional Law, Florida Practice and Procedure, Torts, Evidence, Insurance, and Professional Responsibility. Prior to teaching, she was a shareholder at Marks Gray, P.A., where she practiced in state and federal trial and appellate courts, representing and advising governmental, corporate, and insurance clients.

Ms. Harrell received her Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1994. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Florida State University in 1990, and a second Bachelor of Science degree in Biology (cum laude) from the University of North Florida in 2015.

Ms. Harrell is a member of the Florida Bar. She is admitted to practice in United States District Courts for the Middle, Northern, and Southern Districts of Florida; United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit; and United States Supreme Courts. She is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the Jacksonville Women’s Lawyers Association, the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, the Florida Association of County Attorneys, the Defense Research Institute, and the Jacksonville Women’s Network. She is a Master in the First District Appellate American Inn of Court and an alumna of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court. She was Board Certified as a Specialist in Appellate Practice from 2004 to 2009 (with emeritus status from 2009 to 2013), and has been Board Certified in City, County, and Local Government since 2020.