KEVIN HILL

St. Mary’s County Circuit Court

The Honorable Kevin R. Hill serves as an associate judge of the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County. He was appointed to the bench in 2025 after previously serving as a family magistrate for the court, where he presided over all domestic matters, including custody, access, child support and IV-D child support cases, as well as reinvigorating the Family Recovery Court program.

Before his judicial career, Hill served the public as both an assistant state’s attorney for St. Mary’s County and an assistant public defender in the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, District 4. He earned his juris doctor with honors from the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law, where he was an associate editor on the law journal.

Hill did not pursue law school immediately after college. Instead, he assumed responsibility for running his family’s business — an experience that instilled in him a strong work ethic and an appreciation for small businesses and their communities. Over time, he came to recognize that the work, though meaningful, did not fully align with his sense of purpose. At age 36, he decided to pursue a legal career. He has described the choice not as a career transition but as a commitment to place himself where thoughtful advocacy, careful judgment and integrity could have a tangible impact on people’s lives. At the time, he was his family’s primary income earner, carrying a mortgage, two car payments and two young children at home. To support his family during that period, he worked part-time at the U.S. Department of State while completing his studies full-time.

Hill founded the Southern Maryland Young Lawyers Initiative, a regional mentorship program connecting law students and new attorneys with experienced judges and practitioners across Southern Maryland. He is the immediate past president of the St. Mary’s County Bar Association, having also served as vice president and treasurer, and on the scholarship committee. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, teaching courses in business law, litigation and professional development.

“Leadership in the law is grounded in service — service to the community, to the rule of law, and to the next generation of attorneys,” Hill said. On the bench, he holds that leadership means preparing diligently, treating every person with dignity and respect, and making decisions guided by fairness and integrity. His long-term goal is to build a judicial career defined by fairness, professionalism and the trust of the community he serves.

A lifelong Southern Maryland resident, Hill shares his home with his family and two golden retrievers, Henry and Jack.