---
title: "Sally D. Adkins | KnowJudges"
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updated: "2026-08-22"
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# Sally D. Adkins

Supreme Court of Maryland · Judge

## Profile

- Court: Supreme Court of Maryland
- State: Maryland
- Role: Judge
- Service status: former
- Last verified: 2026-08-22

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- Judge, Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2008-present
- She represented the 1st Appellate Judicial Circuit, covering nine Eastern Shore counties, and retired from the bench on October 30, 2018, subsequently serving as a senior judge
- Adkins’ judicial career began as an associate judge on the Wicomico County Circuit Court from 1996 to 1998

### Education

- a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1975.
- She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Lawrence University in 1972
- University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

### Additional information

- Throughout her career, Adkins held numerous leadership roles, including chairing the Commission on Judicial Disabilities (1999–2006) and the Advisory Committee on adopting the Uniform Bar Examination (2016–2017).
- She then served on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals from 1998 to 2008, before being appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, on June 25, 2008.
- Practitioner, 2007-2007
- She received the Rita C. Davidson Award (1999) and the Dorothy Beatty Memorial Award (2000) for her contributions to the legal profession and advancement of women in law.
- After clerking for Judge Marvin H. Smith on the Maryland Court of Appeals (1975–1976), she was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1976 and began her legal career in private practice at Adkins, Potts & Smethurst, eventually becoming a partner
- Date of birth: 1950-01-21
- After retiring, she has continued to serve as a senior judge and joined a mid-Atlantic alternative dispute resolution firm
- She also contributed to boards such as the Legal Aid Bureau and Coastal Hospice
- She was active in civil law and procedure committees, and held the role of president of the Wicomico County Bar Association and the Eastern Shore chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland.
- Birth place: Salisbury

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### remote proceedings

Scope: statewide

Maryland trial courts may conduct remote electronic proceedings when authorized by rule, and the court may permit or require participants to appear by remote electronic communications.

Evidence excerpt: the court may permit or require one or more participants, or all participants, to join the proceeding by means of remote electronic communications.

[Remote Hearings and Proceedings](https://www.mdcourts.gov/remotehearings)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### remote recording

Scope: statewide

For Maryland remote proceedings, the required recording is made by the court, and participants should not make their own audio or video recording unless the court permits it.

Evidence excerpt: Proceedings conducted via videoconferencing technology must be recorded by the court

[Remote Hearings and Proceedings](https://www.mdcourts.gov/remotehearings)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### electronic devices

Scope: statewide

Maryland permits electronic devices in court facilities only in accordance with court rules and orders; attorneys may use devices reasonably for a proceeding if silent, positioned away from the trier of fact or witnesses, not used for recording, and not used for unauthorized communication.

Evidence excerpt: attorneys are permitted the reasonable and lawful use of an electronic device in connection with the proceeding provided that

[NOTICE Cell Phones, Other Electronic Devices, and Cameras in Court Facilities](https://www.mdcourts.gov/reference/cellphonenotice)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### photography video recording

Scope: statewide

Maryland prohibits taking, recording, or transmitting photographs, videos, or other visual images in court facilities unless the court expressly grants permission in a specific instance.

Evidence excerpt: The taking, recording, or transmitting of photographs, videos, or other visual images by cell phone or any other device is prohibited in the court facility at all times

[NOTICE Cell Phones, Other Electronic Devices, and Cameras in Court Facilities](https://www.mdcourts.gov/reference/cellphonenotice)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/4658/sally-d-adkins/)
- [Official roster](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/4658/sally-d-adkins/)
- [Supreme Court of Maryland current judicial profile](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/4658/sally-d-adkins/)
- [Remote Hearings and Proceedings](https://www.mdcourts.gov/remotehearings)
- [NOTICE Cell Phones, Other Electronic Devices, and Cameras in Court Facilities](https://www.mdcourts.gov/reference/cellphonenotice)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/4658/sally-d-adkins/)
- [Sally D. Adkins, Maryland Court of Appeals Judge](https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/29ap/former/html/msa02638.html)
- [Sally Adkins - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Sally_Adkins)
- [Wikidata: Sally D. Adkins](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16146350)

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