Diane O. Leasure

Judge Diane O. Leasure

Update: From the Cumberland Times News, March 13, 2012:

A Courtroom First - On Monday, March 12, 2012, Retired Judge Diane Leasure, a native of Allegany County, presided over a criminal jury trial in the Allegany County Circuit Court. This marked the first time in Allegany County history that a female judge presided over a case in the Circuit Court. Depicted above, from left to right are, Michelle Strietbeck, criminal clerk; Dawne D. Lindsay, clerk of the court; Judge Diane O. Leasure, and Amy McDonald, court reporter. Judge Leasure retired from the Fifth Judicial Circuit in November 2011. Diane is currently a judicial fellow and lecturer at the University of Maryland law school and serves as a recall judge throughout the state. In the spring of 2011 Judge Leasure was selected for the third time as being one of the Top 100 Women in Maryland by the Daily Record, thus being inducted into the Circle of Excellence. At that time she noted her favorite locations in Maryland as being Allegany High School, the Downtown Cumberland Mall, and the First Presbyterian Church of Cumberland.

Diane Leasure was born in Cumberland and graduated from Allegany High School. Upon receiving her undergraduate degree from Glassboro State College in 1974 and graduate degree from Drexel University in 1977, Diane would for a time serve as a middle school teacher and then as a College Instructor and Assistant Professor. Diane Leasure went on to receive her law degree from the Rutgers University School of Law in 1982.

In 1995 she became the first woman to be appointed to the Circuit Court for Howard County, Maryland. In 2002, the Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals appointed her the Administrative Judge for Howard County and for the 5th Judicial Circuit (Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Howard Counties). This, again, was a first for a woman.

Diane was honored with a "Leadership in Law" award in 2004 by the Maryland Daily Record, and in 2007, Judge Diane O. Leasure was selected as one of "Maryland's Top 100 Women" by the Daily Record, Maryland's leading business and legal news journal. She has been honored with a "Women of Distinction Award" by the Soroptimist International of Howard County, and in 2002 Diane was inducted into the Allegany High School Hall of Honor.

...From: The Maryland Daily Record, May 11, 2007 and the Cumberland Times-News, June 8, 2007.