First & Only Elected Black Howard County Judge

          Chief Judge of the Orphans’ Court

   In 1998 Hon. Sherae M. McNeal at age 32 became

   and remains the first and only elected African

   American judge in Howard County history.

   Judge McNeal was elected as an Orphans’ Court

   Judge and became the second African American

   to serve as a Howard County Orphans’ Court

   Judge.

   Judge McNeal has served as the Chief Judge of

   the Orphans’ Court since 2006, and has been

   instrumental in promoting the use of modern

   information technology within the Orphans’ Court.

   Judge McNeal is currently in the middle of her

   third term of judicial service on the bench.