MD Appellate Court judge retires, giving Moore at-large pick

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Maryland Appellate Court Judge Donald E. Beachley retired last month, creating a vacancy on the state’s second-highest court.

Beachley, who served on the court as an at-large member for nearly a decade, retired Feb. 1, said Terri Charles, a spokesperson for the Maryland judiciary.

Beachley chose to hang up his robes almost a full year before turning 70, the mandatory retirement age for state judges. He turns 70 in late December. Through Charles, he declined to comment.

His retirement gives Democratic Gov. Wes Moore his first opportunity to appoint an at-large member to the 15-member Maryland Appellate Court. At-large members can be residents of any part of the state; other members must come from certain counties or regions.

Moore’s first Maryland Appellate Court vacancy was for an Eastern Shore seat; he appointed Stephen Kehoe in 2024.

Steve Klepper, a principal at Kramon & Graham in Baltimore, first noticed the vacancy and wrote about it on a blog published by the Maryland State Bar Association. Klepper wrote that the vacancy represents a Democratic governor’s first chance to appoint an at-large judge since 2014.

Beachley was appointed in 2016 by former Gov. Larry Hogan after serving on the Washington County Circuit Court for more than 18 years. Before that, he was a partner at Miller, Oliver, Beachley & Stone.

Charles said the application period will not officially open until Moore allows the judiciary to advertise the vacancy.

The applicant pool currently includes two eligible candidates, Cecil County Circuit Court Administrative Judge Brenda Sexton and Somerset County Circuit Court Magistrate Mark Tyler. Sexton was appointed to the bench in 2014 and became the county administrative judge in 2024. Tyler was named a magistrate in late 2021.