Wanted: State's Attorney

Howard County has posted an opening for one of its higher-profile jobs: state's attorney.

The posting on the county's Web site is part of the process to replace Timothy J. McCrone, who became a Howard County Circuit Court judge Friday after serving as state's attorney since January 2003.

Dario J. Broccolino, deputy state's attorney, was sworn in as interim state's attorney. The circuit court judges will name a replacement to serve out McCrone's term, which expires in January 2011. Candidates for the next four-year term must stand for election in November 2010.

McCrone has said that he supports fellow Democrat Lara C. Weathersbee, according to county government sources. Weathersbee has worked in the state's attorney's office for 12 years and is head of the juvenile division. She is the daughter of Anne Arundel State's Attorney Frank Weathersbee.

Applications will be accepted through Jan. 14. Applicants must be licensed to practice law in Maryland and have resided for at least two years in Howard.

Diane O. Leasure, administrative judge for the circuit court, has recused herself from the selection process because she is a nominee for the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, said Wayne Kirwan, McCrone's spokesman. The selection will be made by Lenore R. Gelfman and the other circuit court judges (Louis A. Becker III, Richard S. Bernhardt and McCrone), Kirwan said.

McCrone was named by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. McCrone was elected state's attorney in 2002 and reelected in 2006, when he ran unopposed.

Broccolino, 63, was appointed deputy state's attorney in 1999 by then-State's Attorney Marna L. McLendon, according to his biography. Broccolino was born in Baltimore and is a 1970 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law.