For Immediate Release

Judge William O. Carr Steps Down as Administrative Judge of the Circuit Court
for Harford County; Judge Angela M. Eaves Chosen as His Successor

(BEL AIR, Md. – January 23, 2015) After 28 years as County Administrative Judge for the Circuit Court for Harford County, Judge William O. Carr informed Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Barbera that, in contemplating retirement, he believed his administrative responsibilities should be transitioned to new leadership at this time. Judge Carr will be returning to full-time service as a trial judge. In accepting his resignation as administrative judge, Chief Judge Barbera stated, “I am grateful to Judge Carr for his exemplary service to the people of Maryland.”

Chief Judge Barbera has appointed Judge Angela M. Eaves to succeed Judge Carr as County Administrative Judge, effective January 26, 2015.

As administrative judge, Judge Eaves will oversee the administration of the court, budget and procurement functions, and trial calendars to ensure the expeditious disposition of cases. “Judge Eaves is both an accomplished jurist and an astute manager, which makes her uniquely qualified for this new assignment,” Chief Judge Barbera said.

Judge Eaves was appointed to the Circuit Court for Harford County in December 2007 after serving seven years on the District Court of Maryland. She is the first African-American and second woman appointed to a judgeship in that county, and the first to serve in either capacity on the Circuit Court. Judge Eaves currently serves on several statewide judicial committees and chairs the Domestic Violence Subcommittee.

“It is an honor to be chosen by Chief Judge Barbera and I look forward to the challenge,” Judge Eaves said. “I want to thank Judge Carr for his leadership, and I look forward to the opportunity to build on his fine example. I am committed to serving the citizens of Harford County and Maryland impartially, fairly and respectfully. To do anything less would dishonor the Judiciary and the principles upon which our legal system was formed.”

Judge Eaves was born in the Republic of Panama and moved to the United States in the early 1960s. She graduated in 1986 from the University of Texas School of Law and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin, Texas, with a law degree and a master’s degree. She practiced law with the Dallas City Attorney’s Office before moving to Maryland in 1989, where she continued her legal career with the Legal Aid Bureau, Inc. in Harford County, and then with the Office of the Maryland Attorney General in Baltimore.

She has been an active volunteer on the boards of several civic, nonprofit, and community organizations in Harford County, including the United Way of Central Maryland Partnership, Bar Foundation of Harford County, Court Appointed Special Advocates, the Harford County Community Mediation Commission, the Upper Chesapeake Hospital System, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harford County and the Arc of Harford County and the State of Maryland.

Judge Eaves has been selected as a 2011 Leadership in Law honoree, one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2009 and 2011, a Harford Leadership Academy Top 20 honoree in 2010, an Athena Award honoree for 2009, and an Associated Black Charities Living Legal Legend for 2007.

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