Bernice Mireku-North, a Silver Spring criminal law attorney, has filed to run against incumbent Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy in the 2022 Democratic primary.
Mireku-North, 39, who is with the firm The North Law Group, filed to run on Wednesday according to the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
Mireku-North worked in Anne Arundel County for six years as a prosecutor before entering private practice in 2015. She currently is a co-chair of County Executive Marc Elrich’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force — a group Elrich formed last year to recommend changes to policing in the county.
Mireku-North said in an interview on Thursday that she wants to restore trust in the criminal justice system and increase transparency in the State’s Attorney’s Office. She said the office needs to be more “data driven” in its approach to criminal justice.
“It really starts from the initial arrest, all the way up until sentencing. It’s a full-on assessment of what needs to be transparent to the county,” she said. “That’s where to start. Once someone gets to the office, they can get a better sense of what the problems are.”
Mireku-North said the policing task force has discussed the question of what types of offenses should result in citations, compared to those in which the person is arrested. She said that is something she hopes to examine further if elected state’s attorney.
Mireku-North said she plans to make a formal announcement about her candidacy on Monday.
Rockville attorney Thomas DeGonia announced on social media earlier this month that he planned to run against McCarthy in the primary. DeGonia had not filed for election as of Thursday afternoon.
McCarthy, who filed on April 28, is seeking a fifth four-year term. He has not made a public announcement about his candidacy.
The filing deadline is Feb. 22, 2022. The 2022 primary will be on June 28 and the general election on Nov. 8.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
