MONTGOMERY COUNTY
CIRCUIT COURT

FORMER JUDGES

[photo, John W. Debelius III, Maryland Circuit Court Judge] JOHN W. DEBELIUS III, Chair, Conference of Circuit Judges, December 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 (vice-chair, 2012-14). Circuit Administrative Judge, 6th Judicial Circuit (Frederick & Montgomery counties), and County Administrative Judge, Montgomery County Circuit Court, September 1, 2009 to July 31, 2017 (Associate Judge, July 20, 2001 to August 31, 2009). Retired July 31, 2017. Senior Judge since August 1, 2017. Designated Judge for Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource (ASTAR) Center Program, 2005-17. Member, Circuit Court Differentiated Case-Management Committee, 1993-98, Montgomery County Circuit Court. Member, Merit Selection Committee (for magistrate), 1997, and U.S.- Brazil Law Initiative, 1998, U.S. District Court. Inquiry Panel, Attorney Grievance Commission, 1998-2000. Member, Building Committee, Montgomery County Circuit Court Annex, 2003-. Member, Judicial Council, 2010-13, 2015-16; Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission, Montgomery County, 2009-17 (past vice-chair). Member, Judicial Cabinet, 2014-16. Chair, Case Management Subcommittee of Court Operations Committee, Judicial Council, 2015-17. Member, Work Group on the State of the Court Reports, Judicial Council, 2016. Co-Chair, Work Group on Judicial Social Media Policy, Judicial Council, 2016.
Chair, Community Advisory Board on the Homeless, City of Gaithersburg, 1986-91. Member, Task Force on Homelessness, City of Gaithersburg, 1989-91.

Born in 1953. Attended Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; California State University at Northridge, B.S. (business administration), 1975; University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., 1978. Law clerk to Judge Philip M. Fairbanks, Montgomery County Circuit Court. Author, "The Maryland Boulevard Rule: A Time for Change" 6 University of Baltimore Law Review 223, 1977. Admitted to Maryland Bar, 1978. Practiced law with Debelius, Clifford, Debelius, Crawford, & Bonifant, 1979-2001. Member, Maryland State Bar Association (board of governors, 1994-96, 1999-2001; executive committee, 1999-2000); Montgomery County Bar Association (executive committee, 1994-1999; president, 1997-98). Fellow, Maryland Bar Foundation, 1996-. Board of Directors, Montgomery County Bar Foundation, 1996-2004, 2009- (president, 1998-99). Board of Governors, Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, 1996-98. House of Delegates, American Bar Association, 1999-2000. Master of the Bench, Mongomery Inn of Court, 1994- (president, 2003-04; membership chair, 1996-98). Certificate of Basic Mediation Training, Center for Dispute Resolution, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2016. Mentor of the Year, Montgomery Inn of Court, 1997. Professionalism Award, Montgomery County Bar Association, 2001. Maryland Leadership in Law Award, Daily Record, 2004. Lifetime Bar Leader Award, Montgomer County Bar Foundation, 2013. Annual Jurist Award, Montgomery County Bar Association, 2014. Service to Community Award, Montgomery County Bar Foundation, 2014. Maryland Leadership in Law Lifetime Achievement Award, Daily Record, 2017.

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