DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
& CORRECTIONAL SERVICES

SECRETARIES

FORMER SECRETARIES

[photo, Stuart O. Simms, Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services] STUART O. SIMMS, Esq.
Secretary of Public Safety & Correctional Services, 1997-2003

Secretary of Juvenile Justice, 1995-97

Secretary of Juvenile Justice, February 1995 to November 5, 1997. Co-Chair, Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform, 1995-97. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 1995-97; Cabinet Council on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, 1995-97 (co-chair, juvenile justice reform task force, 1995-97); Governor's Subcabinet for Children, Youth, and Families, 1995-97; Commission on the Future of Maryland Courts, 1995-97; Institutional Educator Pay Plan Committee, 1995-97; Maryland Juvenile Justice Advisory Council, 1995-97; Governor's Commission on Service, 1995-97; Work Force Investment Board, 1995-97; State Board of Victim Services, 1995-2003; Governor's Task Force on Children, Youth, and Families Systems Reform, 1996. Chair, Governor's Task Force on the Fair Imposition of the Death Penalty, 1996.

Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services, November 5, 1997 to January 14, 2003. Member, Governor's Executive Council, 1997-2003; Cabinet Council on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, 1997-2003; Asbestos Oversight Committee, 1997-2003; Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, 1997-98; Education Coordinating Council for Correctional Institutions, 1997-2003; State Information Technology Board, 1997-2003; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee for Minority Affairs, 1997-2003; Pricing Committee for Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, 1997-2003; Pricing and Selection Committee for Rehabilitation and Employment Programs, 1997-2003; Sentencing Guidelines Advisory Board, 1997-99; Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, 1997-2003; Special Study Commission on the Maryland Public Ethics Law, 1998; Committee on Building Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System, 1998-99; Governor's Task Force on Childproof Guns, 1999; Governor's Year-2000 Readiness Task Force, 1999-2000; Commission on Juvenile Justice Jurisdiction, 1999-2001; State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, 1999-2003; Forensic Sciences Task Force, 2000-01; Pretrial Release Project Advisory Committee, 2000-01; Cease Fire Council, 2000-03; Correctional Training Commission, 2000-03; Drug and Alcohol Council, 2001-03; Maryland Green Buildings Council, 2001-03; Advisory Council on Offender Employment Coordination, 2001-03; Governor's Commission to Study Poverty in Maryland, 2001-03; Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2002-03.

Member, Public School Labor Relations Board, 2011-14, Access to Counsel in Evictions Task Force, 2021-.

Staff Counsel for U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland, 1977-78.

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, 1978-82.

Deputy State's Attorney, Baltimore City, 1983 to January 1988. State's Attorney, Baltimore City, January 1988 to February 1995. Member, Governor's Study Commission on Legal Fees; Governor's Task Force on Alternative Sanctions to Incarceration, 1991-92; Governor's Commission on Funding of the Arts in Maryland, 1991-92; Governor's Commission on the Death Penalty, 1992-93. Former member, Governor's Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, July 17, 1950. Dartmouth College, B.A. (government), cum laude, 1972; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1975. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1977. Associate attorney, Semmes, Bowen & Semmes, 1975-77. Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, 2003-20. Chief Counsel, Maryland Legal Aid, 2020-. Member, Maryland State Bar Association (criminal law & practice section; co-chair, special committee on minorities in the legal profession); Baltimore City Bar Association; Monumental City Bar Association. Board member, Citizens' Planning and Housing Association, 1975-77; Baltimore Zoological Society, 1984-; Sinai Hospital, 1987-; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 1988-; Baltimore Museum of Art, 1988-; Baltimore Education Scholarship Trust, 1990-; Maryland Mentoring Partnership; Gilman School. Member, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (board member, 1990-92); Urban League. Member, Maryland Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee, 2005-09. Board of Trustees, Baltimore Community Foundation, 2007-. Honorary Chair, Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform, 2015-. Member, Advisory Board, University of Baltimore School of Law. Nelson A. Rockefeller Distinguished Service Award, The Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth, 1998. Daniel Webster Distinguished Service Award, Dartmouth Club of Washington, DC, 2003. Founders' Award, Baltimore Child Abuse Center, 2012. Maryland Leadership in Law Award, Daily Record, 2013, 2023. Thurgood Marshall Honoree, Baltimore City Chapter, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 2013. Whitney M. Young, Jr., Service Award, Boy Scouts of America, 2014. Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2017. 100 Maryland Super Lawyers, 2017. Vestry, St. James Episcopal Church, 1986-90. Married; two sons.

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