Charles, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, worked in international tax as a CPA for Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse for ten years. Charles then went on to graduate from the University of Denver College Of Law and joined the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender where he practiced as a criminal defense trial attorney for twenty five years. Charles retired in 2007 as the Office Head for the Denver Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. Charles came out of retirement in 2011 to be the Manager of Safety for the City and County of Denver where he oversaw the police, sheriff and fire departments.

In 2007 Charles taught constitutional and comparative law in Ukraine with the Center for International Studies based in Austria and in 2009 worked with the Center for Education in Law and Democracy in the Dominican Republic. He teaches at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Charles sits on the Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council, the Access to Justice Commission, the Governor’s Community Corrections Advisory Council and the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission and the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission. He was the Chair of the Denver Crime Prevention and Control Commission, served on the Colorado Juvenile Parole Board and the Denver Community Corrections Board. Charles is currently Special Counsel to the Governor where he has served under both Governor Ritter and Governor Hickenlooper.