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A candidate for Denver school board has a criminal record in Tennessee.
Jeremy Harris, a mortician and Denver Public Schools father who is running to represent northeast Denver’s District 4 on the board, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony theft in 2014, according to documents obtained by Chalkbeat from Shelby County Criminal Court.
The theft happened when Harris worked at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home in Memphis in 2012, court records show. Harris used the company credit card machine to put two refunds onto his personal debit card: one for $8,000 and another for $10,000, the documents show.
Harris was sentenced to three years of confinement for one theft charge and four years of confinement for the other, according to court documents. Both sentences were suspended in favor of five years of supervised probation. Harris was also ordered to pay back the $18,000.
Although Harris once violated his probation by moving to North Carolina without permission, he’d completed all of the requirements of his probation by 2020, court records show.
In an interview, Harris said he made a mistake more than a decade ago. He said he “took full legal and financial responsibility” and paid back the $18,000.
“My record does not make me unfit for public office,” Harris said. “In fact, I believe it makes me uniquely fit for leadership because I know what accountability means. I’ve faced adversity. I’ve had to rebuild my life. I’ve emerged stronger and more focused on service.
“I understand some voters may see this as disqualifying,” he added. “I welcome the chance to speak directly to voters. I’m not asking for blind trust. I’m asking for a chance to prove that people can grow, lead, and serve with honor, even if their story didn’t start perfectly.”
Four seats on the seven-member Denver school board are up for election on Nov. 4.
Harris, 33, is challenging District 4 school board member Michelle Quattlebaum, who is running for reelection. Harris is the father of one son who attends DPS. He and his family live in the Central Park neighborhood of Denver.
Harris said in an April interview about his candidacy that DPS should focus on school safety and “core academics.” He said he opposes teaching elementary and middle school students about LGBTQ+ issues or critical race theory, a catch-all term for lessons about race and racism.
Harris is a mortician who owns Harris Funeral Directors in Aurora. Colorado is the only state that doesn’t currently require funeral directors to hold a professional license.
Under a state law passed last year, Colorado starting in 2027 will require funeral directors to hold a professional license and undergo a criminal background check as part of the application.
According to state rules, only certain felony convictions will disqualify a funeral director from getting a license in Colorado. Those convictions do not include theft.
Harris said he plans to seek licensure in Colorado. In Tennessee, he was licensed as a student and as an apprentice funeral director, but those licenses expired in 2013 and 2015, respectively, according to a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance.
His Aurora funeral home, Harris Funeral Directors, is licensed in Colorado and has no disciplinary actions against it, according to a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.
Harris said that in the past month, leaders of education organizations, whom he declined to name, have encouraged him to drop out of the school board race. Harris said he won’t.
“This is just a political attack,” Harris said. “But I know that voters are smarter than that.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
