Katie O'Malley: Biography

Katie O'Malley, First Lady of Maryland, has a long history of public service. In 1988, Judge Catherine Curran O’Malley (Katie) began her career in Law as a clerk in the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office. She attended Law school in the evenings at the University of Baltimore.

Work and school took up much of her time until 1990 when she married Martin O’Malley, who is currently the Governor of Maryland. In 1991, she and the Governor had their first child, Grace, while Katie was finishing her last semester of law school.

After graduating from law school and passing the bar exam, she was promoted to Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore County. She handled many domestic violence cases, and child, sexual and physical abuse cases.

During her years as a prosecutor, Judge O’Malley and Governor O’Malley had two more children, Tara and William, and after being appointed to the bench in 2001 they had their fourth child, Jack.

The family lives in Government House, home to Maryland Governors and their families since 1870.

The First Lady has been a steadfast advocate for the rights of victims. For years, she has served in the fight to end domestic violence, participating in several House of Ruth functions and giving lectures both in Maryland and overseas.

In March 2009, Judge O’Malley spoke in Washington, DC as a guest of the U.S. State Department on women’s rights in America and domestic violence. Since 2007, she has traveled to Russia four times to speak on the effects of domestic violence on women internationally.

In Maryland, Judge O’Malley joined Governor O’Malley and Lt. Governor Brown to support and successfully pass legislation to remove firearms from the hands of domestic abusers.

She is passionate about ending bullying in schools and in 2011, she partnered with Facebook and Time Warner to promote National Bullying Prevention Month. She continues to visit public and private schools, colleges and universities, and organizations around the state to promote domestic violence and bullying awareness for all families and children.