Hon. Vicki Ballou-Watts

Hon. Vicki Ballou-Watts has been serving as an Associate Judge on the Baltimore County Circuit Court, 3rd Judicial Circuit, since May 29, 2002. She was the first African-American female judge appointed to the Circuit Court of Baltimore County. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, around 1958, Judge Ballou-Watts earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism with honors from Howard University in 1980 and her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1983. She was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1984. Before her judicial appointment, she worked as an associate at Gerald A. Smith & Associates, as a panel attorney in the Public Defender’s Office of Baltimore City, and as a sole practitioner focusing on personal injury litigation, family law, contracts, criminal law, worker’s compensation, and employment law. Judge Ballou-Watts has been actively involved in several legal and community organizations, including serving as President of the Baltimore County Bar Association from 2015 to 2016 and as a member of the Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure since 2020. Her extensive legal experience and dedication to public service make her a respected and influential figure in the Maryland judiciary. Judge Ballou-Watts’s commitment to justice and her diverse legal background highlight her as a distinguished member of the Baltimore County Circuit Court.