Heather S. DeWees is the first elected female Clerk of Circuit Court for Carroll County. Since taking office on December 3, 2018, she has implemented various policies to ensure that each person who is served by the Carroll County Clerk’s Office receives professional, accurate & courteous access to justice. Beginning her 2nd term as Clerk of the Circuit Court December 5, 2022, Clerk DeWees continues to create and update literature offered by the Clerk’s Office and spends time educating the public about the services the Clerk’s Office has to offer. Additionally, she serves on committees statewide to benefit the Maryland court system and Carroll County residents. Clerk DeWees is an active member of the Maryland Clerks’ Association and she will serve as the President in 2024.
Clerk DeWees is a member of the of Maryland Judiciary Education Committee, the Professional Development Subcommittee, and the Non-Case Record Automation Subcommittee. She serves as an Instructor for the Educational Development Course in the Maryland Judiciary’s Institute for Court Management Certification Program (ICM). She encourages her staff to take advantage of professional development opportunities offered through the Maryland Judicial College by having them attend various courses and recommending them for court certification programs.
Since Mrs. DeWees has been in office, programs have been put in place to ensure that Carroll County consistently meets yearly case time standards and she continues to improve the accessibility of the legal system to all. Several security aspects have been improved throughout the Clerk’s Office and the Carroll County Circuit Court to meet the standards of the National Center for State Courts and protect those who visit the courthouse and work in the courthouse. The goal for customers set by Clerk DeWees and her staff is safe, efficient, and effective service for all.
Mrs. DeWees was raised in Rivesville, West Virginia and she is a graduate of Fairmont Senior High School where she played varsity high school basketball, was named 1st Team All-State twice and led the state of West Virginia in scoring with 36.5 points per game her junior season. The Marion County All-Time Leading Scorer for both boys and girls varsity basketball with 2,407 career points, she received a full basketball scholarship to Mount St. Mary’s University, Maryland where she played Women’s Division 1 Basketball and received her Bachelor of Arts in History and Spanish in addition to a minor in Theology. She was a member of the History Honor Society serving as President her senior year, the Spanish Honor Society, and the Theology Honor Society.
A Summa Cum Laude and Top 10 graduate of the Mount, Mrs. DeWees was recognized as the Top Performer in her History Major for her graduating class with a perfect 4.0 GPA, was selected as a District II NCAA Division I Academic All-American, earned First Team All -Northeast Conference and was elected to the Mount St. Mary’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. She scored over 1,000 career points in college.
Clerk DeWees is also a graduate of Wake Forest University Graduate School, North Carolina where she earned a Master Teacher Fellowship and a Master of Arts Degree in Secondary Education. She has coached high school girls’ basketball for over 25 years and has been the Head Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach at Manchester Valley High School in Manchester, MD since its opening in 2009.
Coach DeWees has won 3 Carroll County Championships in 13 years, been recognized by the Girls on the Run of Central Maryland as “SHEroe”, honored by the Carroll County Times as “Coach of the Year” twice and recognized by Maryland County Sports Zone as the first female high school basketball coach “High School Coach of the Month” in 2017.
She resides in Westminster with her husband, James T. DeWees - the Sheriff of Carroll County, and their three children, Mackenzie, Brett & Gavin.