Rita M. Mairs joined the Office of General Counsel in May 2012 and has served as the Chief of General Litigation as well as Chief Counsel to the Duval County School Board.  Apart from her time working with the Office of General Counsel, Ms. Mairs spent nine years litigating in both the public sector and at the law firms of Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans, and Coxe, P.A and Burr + Forman, LLP.  Ms. Mairs has also served as the Lead Judicial Staff Attorney for the Circuit Court judges assigned to the criminal division, where she primarily handled matters pertaining to capital cases and high-profile criminal cases.  While employed as a Judicial Staff Attorney, Ms. Mairs was appointed by the Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit to serve as a Special Master to preside over hearings related to requests for belated appeals, and also served as an Adjunct Professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law, where she taught Advanced Trial Practice.

Ms. Mairs received a Bachelors of Arts Degree with Honors from the University of Florida in 1998.  She went on to obtain a Juris Doctor Degree with High Honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2001.  While in law school, Ms. Mairs served as a Teaching Assistant for Legal Research and Writing and Appellate Advocacy, was awarded the Book Award for Trial Practice, and competed throughout the state and nation on the Trial Team.  Ms. Mairs was also selected to the Order of the Coif, a prestigious legal honor society.

Ms. Mairs is a former associate of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, a former committee chair of the Jacksonville Women Lawyer's Association and has served as a volunteer judge for Teen Court, the Florida Coastal Trial Team, Buddy Break and as a preschool teacher at East Pointe Church.  She was also appointed by the Mayor to serve on the City of Jacksonville’s Civil Service Board.