BRETT ENGLER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHIEF, APPOINTED TO DISTRICT COURT BENCH

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 27, 2025

 

BRETT ENGLER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHIEF, APPOINTED TO DISTRICT COURT BENCH

 

 

ANNAPOLIS, MD – On October 27, 2025, Domestic Violence Unit Chief Brett Engler was appointed by Governor Wes Moore to serve as a judge on the District Court for Frederick County. Brett was a career prosecutor, starting in the office in 2012, following a clerkship for the Honorable Judge Clayton Greene on the Supreme Court of Maryland. She focused her practice on combatting intimate partner violence and working to prevent domestic violence homicide. She chaired the Frederick County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) and the Frederick County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (DVFRT), each of which bring together criminal justice and community stakeholders to improve the County’s domestic violence response. Additionally, Brett also served on the Legal Committee for the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, and the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of Maryland’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Statewide Implementation Team (MD-DVRSIT). She won numerous awards for her contributions to the field, including the 2023 Morton Bard Allied Professional Award from the National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA) and a 2025 Purple Ribbon Award for Legal Advocate of the Year from Alliance for Hope International.

State’s Attorney Charlie Smith stated, “Brett is a sharp, intelligent, and dedicated lawyer.  She and the DV Unit staff have saved the lives of countless victims and advanced the County’s domestic violence response along with our community partners. Her appointment to the bench is a natural progression in her commitment to our community.  I will really miss her in my Office, but we will carry on the critical work of high-level domestic violence prosecution and community engagement as she ascends the bench.”

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-Announces-Judicial-Appointments-for-Baltimore-and-Frederick-Counties.aspx

Press Contact:

Jacqueline Rottmann

Court Media Relations Officer

301-600-2972

100 West Patrick Street

Frederick, Maryland  21701

 

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