The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office announced new appointments in a staff email Monday following a series of departures.
Jan Bledsoe, a fixture since State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby first took office, will ascend to chief deputy. She takes the place of Michael Schatzow, her co-counsel on the prosecution of the officers who were charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Schatzow retired in October.
Bledsoe was a former longtime defense attorney, who was a police misconduct prosecutor under former State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein and returned in a leadership role with the Mosby administration.
“Jan has always demonstrated leadership in our office, passion for the mission, and dedication to our staff. I am delighted she is taking on this role,” Mosby wrote in a staff email.
Replacing Bledsoe as deputy state’s attorney for major crimes is Kurt Bjorkland, a former homicide prosecutor who had been overseeing the misdemeanor jury trial division. Mosby said Bjorkland was a “talented veteran prosecutor, with experience in a vast number of divisions.” In the new position he will oversee the homicide, special victims, gun violence enforcement, narcotics and general felony units.
There is also a new head of the homicide unit, following the recent retirement of longtime chief Lisa Goldberg. Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Dunty will take her place.
Assistant State’s Attorney Noelle Winder will also take Bjorkland’s position overseeing the misdemeanor jury trial division, with new team captain David Owens joining her.
The office has been enduring a wave of departures, at both the trial prosecutor and leadership positions, which officials have attributed to caseload and pay disparities. In addition, former members of the city state’s attorney’s office now hold the top spots in Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford counties, and have brought former colleagues with them.
The Major Investigations Unit and Criminal Strategies Unit, both signature initiatives of the office, have been reduced to just a handful of prosecutors and merged in recent months. And now, Terence Nash, who has overseen the CSU unit since 2016, is leaving that post to join the mayor’s office working on violence prevention initiatives, officials confirmed.