About me
STEPHANIE P. PORTER was appointed to be a Judge in the Circuit Court for Howard County in January of 2022 and presides over criminal, civil and family law matters, including bench and jury trials. Prior to her appointment as a Judge, Judge Porter was a Magistrate for the Circuit Court of Howard County where she presided over juvenile delinquency cases, Children in Need of Assistance (“CINA”) cases, family law matters, as well as child support matters. Judge Porter has been part of the Howard County implementation team for CYPM since the beginning.
Judge Porter is a graduate of the University of Vermont where she received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology with a concentration in Crime, Law and Justice. After graduating from UVM, Stephanie uprooted from Vermont to venture to Alexandria, Virginia where she began working in the mental health field. Stephanie attended law school at the University of Baltimore, graduating with honors in 2000. She clerked for The Honorable Kathleen G. Cox in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County and then went on to be an Assistant State’s Attorney in Baltimore County. During the majority of her years as an ASA, Stephanie focused on prosecuting both sexual and physical child abuse cases, child pornography and online exploitation cases as well as adult sex crimes and gang crimes. Stephanie served on the Franklin Square Hospital Child Protection Team, The Baltimore County Local Children’s Board, the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, a Multi-Jurisdictional Violent Crimes Task Force and Project Safe Childhood.
Judge Porter is a member of Maryland State Bar Association, Howard County Bar Association, Howard County Women’s Bar Association and the Honorable James MacGill INNS of Court (serving as President for 2021/22). She currently sits on the Judiciary’s Education Committee and the Domestic Law Committee’s Child Support Workgroup.
Judge Porter is the court’s designee to the Howard County Behavioral Health Advisory Board. Stephanie previously served on the faculty of ChildFirst Maryland. She was previously on the Oakland Mills Local Leadership Team and served on the board of HCDrugFree. She is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Howard County.
Stephanie lives in Columbia, MD with her husband, Ed, two daughters, Alexa and Olivia, and dogs, Ryder and Poppi.
