Senator Charles E. Sydnor III was born and raised in Baltimore City, Maryland and is a resident of Ellicott Mills. Charles is employed as an Assistant General Counsel with the Columbia, Maryland based affordable housing organization, Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.
In addition to his work at Enterprise, Charles was sworn into the Maryland Senate on January 8, 2020 to represent District 44, which includes communities in both Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and serves on the Judicial Proceedings Committee. Additionally, Charles was appointed to Joint Committee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Biotechnology, the Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness, and the Law Enforcement Body Camera Task Force.
Prior to his time in the Senate, Charles served in Maryland’s House of Delegate, where he served on the House Judiciary Committee chairing both the Civil Law and Procedures subcommittee and the Criminal Law and Procedures subcommittee during his tenure. During his first term in office, Charles successfully introduced legislation for police departments to adopt body cameras and has worked on legislation to regulate the use of certain surveillance devices by law enforcement agencies.
Charles matriculated at and received his Juris Doctor and Masters of Policy Sciences from the University of Maryland School of Law and University of Maryland Baltimore County, respectively. Charles also matriculated and received his Bachelor’s degree with honors from Johns Hopkins University and his A-course diploma from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Charles is admitted to practice before Maryland and District of Columbia courts and the United States Supreme Court.
Charles is a recipient of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Black Law Student Association’s Graduate of the Year Award (2020), Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition’s Most Promising Legislator Award (2017), Daily Record’s Leadership in Law Award (2012), the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law’s Public Service Award (2000) and Johns Hopkins University’s Student Excellence Award for Leadership and Service Award (1996).