Gov. Martin O'Malley announced the appointment Friday of several new judges, including Michele D. Hotten to the Court of Special Appeals and eight trial judges to serve in courts in Baltimore City as well as Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties.

Hotten will serve on the Court of Special Appeals for the 4th Appellate Circuit in Prince George's County. She replaces James P. Salmon, who retired. For 15 years, she has been an associate judge on the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, where she serves as the coordinating judge for civil cases. Before joining the Circuit Court, she served a year as an associate judge for the county District Court.

Hotten, a graduate of Howard University's law school, has also served as counsel to the Prince George's County Human Relations Commission and as a prosecutor for several years in the county state's attorney's office.

In Baltimore City, O'Malley appointed Yolanda A. Tanner a master in the Baltimore Circuit Court Division for Juvenile Causes. A University of Maryland law school graduate, Tanner previously represented the city's Department of Social Services and worked at the Legal Aid Bureau, representing children in child abuse and neglect cases.

The governor appointed Shannon E. Avery and Karen Friedman to fill vacancies on the Baltimore District Court. Avery, a University of Baltimore law school graduate, is executive director of the Office of Planning, Policy, Regulations and Statistics for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Friedman, a Maryland law school graduate, currently serves as an associate judge on the Orphans' Court for Baltimore City, where she was instrumental in instituting a mediation program.

In Baltimore County, O'Malley appointed Marsha L. Russell, Leo Ryan Jr. and Steven D. Wyman to serve on the District Court. All three earned their law degrees from the University of Baltimore. Russell has been a prosecutor in the county state's attorney's office since 1993. Ryan has been deputy state's attorney for the county since 2007. Wyman, a trial attorney and a former prosecutor, began his legal career with the city state's attorney's office.

In Howard County, O'Malley appointed Ricardo D. Zwaig, a Maryland law school graduate who is currently a partner in a law firm that specializes in criminal, business and immigration law, to the District Court.

In Montgomery County, the governor appointed Audrey A. Creighton, an assistant public defender for the state, to the District Court.