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Bredar to move to senior status, Russell to be new chief federal judge in Maryland
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Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar announced Thursday that he will assume senior status in the spring, ending his time as leader of Maryland’s federal bench.
Bredar, 66, will become a senior judge — effectively retiring, though he will still handle a reduced caseload — on April 30, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland announced.
He will continue overseeing the Baltimore Police Department’s federal consent decree, a complex task that he has helmed for years.
By moving to senior status, Bredar is creating a vacancy on the U.S. District Court in Maryland. Federal judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III is set to succeed Bredar as chief judge.
Bredar made the announcement at the Biennial Bench-Bar Conference in Baltimore Thursday. He has been chief judge since Oct. 6, 2017.
Bredar served as a U.S. magistrate judge from 1998 until 2010, when President Barack Obama nominated him to become a U.S. district judge.
Before joining the bench, Bredar was Maryland’s federal public defender for six years. He was one of only a handful of former federal public defenders to become a federal judge at the time.
Raised in Colorado, Bredar also worked as a prosecutor there before becoming an assistant federal public defender.
His successor, Russell, is also an Obama nominee and has been a U.S. district judge since 2012. Before becoming a federal judge, Russell served on the Baltimore City Circuit Court and as a federal prosecutor.
