Sharon Garner is an experienced litigator and government attorney who joined the City Solicitor’s Office in July of 2019. She spent the first eight years of her legal career in the RI Public Defender’s Office where she defended indigent individuals charged with misdemeanor and felony crimes in all stages of litigation including bench and jury trials. She then became interested in white collar crime and spent several years with the RI Division of Revenue serving as Chief of the Special Investigation Unit for the Division of Taxation. In this position, she supervised criminal tax fraud and money laundering investigations in coordination with other state and federal agencies such as the RI Attorney General’s Office, the RI State Police, the Secret Service, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
As a Senior Assistant City Solicitor, Ms. Garner represents the City in civil litigation in state and federal court. She also represents the City in zoning and land use matters, serving as legal counsel to the Zoning Board of Review.
Ms. Garner received her B.A. Summa Cum Laude from the University of Richmond in Latin and Ancient Greek.
She then received her J.D. from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville where she focused on criminal and environmental defense work. While at UVA she was an active member of Virginia Law Women and the Public Interest Law Association, and she served as an intern for the South Center for Human Rights.
Ms. Garner lives in Little Compton, Rhode Island with her husband and three children. She loves mystery novels and grits and shrimp. She also is excellent at Legos.