Robert G. Cassilly (born July 1958) is an American politician who is currently the county executive of

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

. He previously served in the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

from 2015 to 2022, representing

District 34 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Early life

Robert G. Cassilly was born in July 1958, in

Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which ...

. He attended Bel Air High School. Cassilly attended the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

where he was a member of the

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program. He graduated in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in international relations. He graduated from the

University of Baltimore School of Law The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

in 1988 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. While attending law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Dana M. Levitz of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.

Career

Military career

In 1976, Cassilly enlisted in the

Maryland Army National Guard The Maryland Army National Guard (MD ARNG) is the United States Army component of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is headquartered at the old Fifth Regiment Armory at the intersection of North Howard Street, 29th Division Street, near Martin Lut ...

and served with the 20th Special Forces Group until 1978. He was an ROTC cadet at the Johns Hopkins University, from 1976 to 1980, graduating in 1980 as an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate. He was then commissioned as a Regular Army officer in the United States Army. He graduated with honors from the Army Airborne School and from the Army Ranger School. He served as an active duty Infantry officer from 1980-1985 when he transferred to the Army Reserves. As a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, he served as a JAG with the 10th Legal Support Organization and as an International Law Officer with the 352nd Civil Affairs Command. In 2006, he deployed to Iraq with the 352nd and was assigned to the 101st AB Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star, State Department

Meritorious Honor Award The Meritorious Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or indiv ...

, Iraq Campaign Medal, and National Defense Service Medal for his service in Salah ad Din Province, Iraq.

Law career

After graduating from law school with honors, he served as a law clerk to the

Maryland Court of Special Appeals Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. From 1989 until 1995 he practiced law in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, initially with the firm of Irwin, Kerr, Green, McDonald and Dexter and then Law Office of William A. McDaniel. He opened his own law practice in Bel Air, Maryland in 1997 and practiced there until 2006 when was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army. Upon his return from Iraq, he served as an adviser and trainer at the Army National Training Center in California. From December 2007 until August 2013, Cassilly was employed by the

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

as a Senior Adviser in the

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), also known as the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs, is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nati ...

, Senior Strategic Planner in U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq, Acting Director of Stability Operations at the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...

in Arlington, Virginia, as senior governance adviser in Karbala Province, Iraq, and as senior adviser to the Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations, in Washington, D.C. He was awarded the State Department

Superior Honor Award The Superior Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or individ ...

and Expeditionary Award for service in Iraq. In 2013 he returned to the practice of law as a litigator in Maryland state and federal courts.

Political career

Cassilly served as a member and chairman of the Harford County Republican Central Committee from 1990 to 1996. From 1997 to 2002 he served as a councilman and then Mayor of his hometown of Bel Air, Maryland. He stepped down from the town council in 2002 to run for a position on the Harford County Council. Cassilly won election to the Harford County Council as the representative from district C, which includes the town of Bel Air and the area around the town. He served in this capacity until being deployed to Iraq as a member of the Army Reserves in January 2006. In 2014 Cassilly was a candidate for

Maryland Legislative District 34 Maryland's Legislative District 34 is one of 47 districts in the state for the Maryland General Assembly. It covers part of Harford County. The district is divided into two sub-districts for the Maryland House of Delegates: District 34A and D ...

in the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

, which had been vacated by former Senate Minority Leader

Nancy Jacobs Nancy Jacobs (born October 27, 1951 in West Virginia) is a former Maryland State Senator representing District 34. Early life, education, and early career Jacobs attended Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, West Virginia. After high school, ...

. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary and went on to defeat his democrat challenge by 14 points in the general election. At the same time his younger brother Andrew, was elected as a State Delegate in district 35B and his older brother, Joseph, won re-election as Harford County State's Attorney. Both Bob and Andrew were re-elected in the 2018. Joseph retired in 2017 after having served as 34 years as Harford County State's Attorney From 2015 to 2022, Cassilly served as the Maryland State Senator for District 34, in Harford County. He was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee; Joint Committee on Federal Relations; Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review; Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy; Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure; and Veterans Caucus. He resigned in December 2022 to serve as county executive of Harford County.

Personal life

Cassilly is married and has five children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassilly, Robert Living people 1958 births People from Havre de Grace, Maryland Johns Hopkins University alumni Maryland lawyers Republican Party Maryland state senators United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Department of State officials University of Baltimore School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians Harford County Executives