Governor O’Malley Appoints Judges in Frederick, Carroll and Cecil Counties

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Nov. 25 -- Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., issued the following news release:

Governor O'Malley has appointed four new judges: Master Brenda Alverta Sexton will serve on the Circuit Court for Cecil County; Fred Scott Hecker will serve on the Circuit Court for Carroll County; Danny Brian O'Connor will serve on the Circuit Court for Frederick County; and, Earl Wilbur Bartgis, Jr. will serve on the District Court for Frederick County. All of the judges selected to serve in Maryland's judiciary were recommended to Governor O'Malley by the trial court judicial nominating commissions.

Master Sexton is currently a Domestic Relations Master in the Circuit Court for Cecil County. Prior to her selection as a Master, she was partner at the firm Wilson & Sexton and specialized in matters of family law, estate planning, and probate proceedings. She has also served as a part-time Assistant State's Attorney and as counsel to the Town of North East and the Elkton Board of Zoning Appeals. She has been the Treasurer of the Cecil County Bar Association for over twenty years. Master Sexton received a Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Goucher College.

Since 2005, Mr. Hecker has worked as a partner with the Westminster-based firm of Miller & Hecker. His practice focuses on family law, including divorce, custody, and juvenile guardianship proceedings. He also practices criminal law. For the last six years, Mr. Hecker has served as a Settlement Officer for the Circuit Court for Carroll County, and he has been the chair of the Carroll County Local Pro Bono Committee since 2003. He received a Juris Doctor from University of Baltimore School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Gettysburg College.

Mr. O'Connor has been a partner at Severn, O'Connor & Kresslein in Frederick since 1998. He is a civil litigator whose practice concentrated on the areas of complex commercial and construction litigation; his clients included individuals, businesses, non-profits, and government entities. He has worked on an array of matters over the course of his thirty-two year career including contract disputes, land use and zoning issues, professional malpractice cases, and domestic relations matters. During that time, Mr. O'Connor also served in leadership positions in several community organizations and bar associations. He received a Juris Doctor from University of Toledo College of Law and a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Albany.

For the past seven years, Mr. Bartgis has been a solo practitioner working on matters including commercial litigation, landlord/tenant disputes, real estate contracts, family law, insurance defense, and personal injury cases. Prior to starting his own practice, he worked for the firm Miles & Stockbridge for fifteen years. He also serves as a court-appointed attorney for children in custody cases in Frederick County, and he volunteers with the Maryland Disability Law Center, which presented him with their Legal Advocacy Award in 2010 for his outstanding pro bono efforts. Mr. Bartgis received a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts from George Mason University.

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