Michael R. White Reprimanded

Michael R. White, an Orphans' Court judge in St. Mary's County, Maryland, was formally reprimanded by the state Commission on Judicial Disabilities after a public hearing — the first of its kind in Maryland following a 2019 rules change. The complaints stemmed from numerous criminal and civil disputes involving his brother John White, who chairs the family's e-commerce business, Compass Marketing, and that company's executive assistant. The Commission unanimously found White's conduct in his financial disclosure statements, and during its investigation, "justified some form of discipline" — he underreported income by hundreds of thousands of dollars from 2015-2018 and failed to disclose ownership of a separate business in 2019 — though investigators did not prove a separate charge tied to a December 2021 civil deposition. The Commission concluded none of the conduct was "so serious, offensive or repetitious" as to warrant formal judicial charges, and issued the reprimand instead.