The Hon. Clara E. Campbell is an associate judge for the Cecil County District Court in Maryland. She was appointed to the bench by Governor Larry Hogan on July 8, 2016, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Stephen J. Baker.
Prior to her appointment, Campbell was a sole practitioner in her own private practice in Elkton. Before that, she was an associate in the Law Office of H. Norman Wilson (1987 to 1994) and a partner at Hammond & Campbell (1996 to 2008). She also handled cases for the Cecil County Planning Commission (1994 to 2016), the Cecil County Board of Commissioners (1988 to 2012), the Town of Elkton Planning Commission (1999 to 2016), and the Cecil County Board of Appeals (2013 to 2016).
Campbell earned a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1983. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law in 1987. As a law student, Campbell was a law clerk for the Hon. Donaldson C. Cole, Jr. and the Hon. E.D.E. Rollins, Jr. of the Cecil County Circuit Court.
She is admitted to practice in Maryland (1987) and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (1988).
Her memberships have included the Maryland State Bar Association, the Cecil County Bar Association, the Susquehanna Law Club, the Cecil County Republican Central Committee (president), and the Cecil County Volunteer Lions Club.
The youngest of six children, Campbell was raised in North East, where her father owned and operated a grocery store on Main Street. She attended North East High School and graduated as its valedictorian in 1979.
