Gov. Martin O'Malley made his third appointment to Maryland's highest court on Thursday, along with other judicial appointments that didn't include the Senate president's son, whose nomination for a district judgeship prompted nepotism allegations.

Judge Mary Ellen Barbera, who has been a member of the Court of Special Appeals since 2002, will replace retiring Court of Appeals Judge Irma Raker.

"Throughout her career — first as an attorney for the state, and later as an appellate judge — she has shown impeccable judgment, integrity, intelligence, and compassion," O'Malley said of Barbera in a statement.

Barbera, 56, will represent Montgomery County in the Seventh Appellate Judicial Circuit for the Court of Appeals.

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O'Malley, a Democrat, has had the opportunity to appoint three judges to the seven-member Court of Appeals in the first half of his term, because of the court's mandatory retirement age of 70. He already has appointed judges Sally Adkins and Joseph Murphy.

Barbera taught elementary school in Baltimore city's public schools while she attended the University of Maryland School of Law at night.

From 1985 to 1989, she worked for the Criminal Appeals Division of the Office of the Attorney General. She served as legal counsel to Gov. Parris Glendening from 1998 to 2002.

Barbera also has served on committees of the Maryland State Bar Association, including the special committee on anti-discrimination matters and the standing committee to draft pattern jury instructions in criminal cases.

O'Malley announced Barbera's appointment on the same day he named two judges to Maryland's intermediate appellate court, the Court of Special Appeals. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Albert Matricciani Jr. will fill the vacancy created by Barbera's appointment. Kathryn Grill Graef, who is chief of the Criminal Appeals Division of the Maryland attorney general's office, will take the place of retiring Judge J. Frederick Sharer.

O'Malley also appointed two Circuit Court judges and eight District Court judges for Anne Arundel, Calvert, Cecil and Prince George's counties.

The process for filling one of the Anne Arundel County judgeships generated controversy after three members of the county's judicial nominating commission resigned in protest after the Senate president's son, Thomas V. Miller III, was nominated for a district judgeship.

O'Malley, when questioned on a Washington radio program in June about the controversy, said he believed it was unfair to rule out politically connected appointees, as long as they are qualified.

Nevertheless, Miller, who has served on the Maryland Parole Commission for 12 years, didn't get the appointment. He is Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's son.

O'Malley's Anne Arundel County District Court appointments include:

In Baltimore city, O'Malley appointed Marcus Shar to fill the vacancy created by Matricciani. The governor appointed Edward Gregory Wells, an assistant attorney general, to the Calvert County District Court.

Other appointments include:

Bonnie Gullatt Schneider for the Cecil County District Court; District Court Judge Leo Green, Jr., Tiffany Hanna Anderson, Richard Collins and Lawrence V. Hill Jr. to the Prince George's County Circuit Court.