Chip Harding is the Sheriff of Albemarle County. While serving as a detective on the Charlottesville police force for over two decades, Chip successfully lobbied Virginia’s General Assembly to fund DNA databases in Virginia that became national models. In 2007, Chip was honored as one of the “top 10 Cops in America” by Parade Magazine and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Chip does pro-bono investigative work for the Innocence Project and is the first Sheriff in America to have been featured on their national web site. He has appeared on CNN and testified in Congress on the power of expanded DNA databanks.

Currently, he is advocating for further expansions in the DNA program and establishing a statewide Innocence Commission to study the lessons learned from DNA exoneration cases.

Chip will be speaking on the Innovation Behind Exoneration panel.