Advisory Committee: Retention of Judges

Unnumbered Statewide Questions
Questions on the Retention of Judges of the Appellate Court of Maryland: Judge Anne K. Albright, Appellate Court, At Large, For Continuance in Office. Judge Kevin F. Arthur, Appellate Court, At Large, For Continuance in Office. Judge Andrea M. Leahy, Appellate Court, At Large, For Continuance in Office.

Summary
At the next General Election following the appointment of a judge to the Appellate Court, voters are given the opportunity to decide whether or not the judge should be retained on the court for a full 10-year term. At the end of each term, the question of whether to retain the judge for another term is again submitted to the voters. In 2001, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee adopted a resolution stating that it is the policy of the County Democratic Party that judges should be retained in office unless they have “demonstrated through the performance of his or her duties that such sitting Judge is not qualified to continue in office.”

In addition to the Appellate Court judges who will be voted on for retention, other judicial candidates will also be on the ballot in Montgomery County in 2024. Judges of the Circuit Court in Montgomery County (Judicial Circuit 6) are running for election to four positions
on the Circuit Court, but those are not listed as retention questions on the ballot. As such, the election of the four Circuit Court judges are not within the purview of the Ballot Questions Advisory Committee.

Background
The Appellate Court of Maryland is the state’s intermediate appellate court and considers appeals from almost any case that originates in a Circuit Court or an Orphans’ Court in Maryland. The Appellate Court presently consists of 15 active judges, at least one of whom comes from each of the State’s seven geographic appellate circuits. The court’s name changed from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland after a ballot initiative that voters approved in November, 2022. The fifteen Appellate Court judges are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maryland State Senate using an assisted appointment process. The Maryland Judicial Nominating Commission is responsible for screening candidates and submitting a shortlist of candidates to the Governor. The Commission’s 17 members are appointed by the Governor and 2024 Ballot the Maryland State Bar Association. The Governor must appoint someone from the Judicial Nominating Commission’s shortlist and the appointee must then be confirmed by the State Senate. After serving for one year, judges must stand for retention in the next general election if they wish to remain on the Court. If retained by the voters, the judge has a full ten-year term.

Judge Albright: Judge Albright was appointed as an at-large judge on the Appellate Court on April 20, 2022. Previously, she served as an Associate Judge on the Montgomery County Circuit Court, 6th Judicial Circuit, from January 19, 2012 to April 19, 2022. Judge Albright was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1987. Before her appointment as a judge, she held positions as a Public Defender and practiced law in private law firms.

Judge Arthur: Judge Arthur has been an at-large judge on the Appellate Court of Maryland since March 18, 2014. He was retained by voters in 2014, winning a full 10-year term, which ends in December, 2024. He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1987. Judge Arthur practiced law in
Maryland from 1988 until his appointment as a judge in 2014.

Judge Leahy: Judge Leahy has been an at-large judge on the Appellate Court of Maryland since March 18, 2014. She was retained by voters in 2014, winning a full ten-year term, which ends in December, 2024. Judge Leahy was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1989. She practiced law in Maryland law firms from 2001 until her appointment as a judge in 2014. She also previously served as Associate County Attorney, Prince George’s County (1989-1992), as the chief legal counsel for former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening (1995-1999), and as an Assistant
U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland (1999-2001).

Review: The BQAC reviewed the disciplinary opinions of the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities and reviewed the disciplinary actions of the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission. No disciplinary actions were found and no other adverse information was discovered concerning Judge Albright, Judge Arthur, or Judge Leahy. The BQAC also requested input from the judicial selection committees of the Montgomery County Bar Association, Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Maryland, LGBTQ Bar Association of Maryland, Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland, Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association, and Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association. At an August 28, 2024 public hearing conducted by the BQAC, no one spoke on the question of whether to retain the judges. The Ballot Questions Advisory Committee received no adverse information about Judge Albright, Judge Arthur, or Judge Leahy.