Former Harford Council member Dion Guthrie’s legal team has filed an appeal to the Maryland Appellate Court and plans to request that the Supreme Court of Maryland issue an expedited decision on whether he should be allowed to return to his council seat.

On Tuesday Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda L. Curtin dismissed all claims by Guthrie that he should be allowed to return to the Harford County Council. Now, Guthrie will focus on higher courts.

Guthrie, 86, of Joppatowne, was removed from the council in November, and his District A seat has since been filled by Nolanda Robert, who was nominated to the position by the Harford County Democratic Central Committee and appointed by the council in early January.

Guthrie, a Democrat, was removed from the County Council on Nov. 14 after he submitted a plea of no contest to felony charges of theft in Baltimore County court. Per the state constitution, elected officials are to be removed from office if they plead guilty to, or enter a plea of no contest to felony charges. Guthrie’s plea acknowledged prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict, without admitting guilt.

After he was removed from the council Guthrie launched two lawsuits asserting that Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Dennis M. Robinson Jr. struck Guthrie’s no contest plea along with a guilty verdict, and granted Guthrie probation before judgment. For that reason, Guthrie and his legal team believe he should be allowed to serve on the County Council.

The Harford County Circuit Court has not agreed with Guthrie’s argument, and Curtin denied both of Guthrie’s legal filings, the first in December and the second in January. On Tuesday Curtin ordered that all charges and motions in the matter be dismissed, the case be closed and that Guthrie pay outstanding court fees.

Legal representatives for Council President Patrick Vincenti, who is a Republican, responded to Curtin’s decision by saying, “the law is the law.”

“There is no politics at play. Just the automatic operation of law and the orderly transition upon the removal of a member,” said Michael Berman of Rifkin Weiner Livingston, LLC, which represents Vincenti.

Guthrie had served several nonconsecutive terms on the council over 14 years when he was charged with felony theft in Baltimore County last year. He was accused of stealing between $5,000 and $25,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers Local 1501 in Cockeysville between Oct. 1, 2017 and Sept. 30, 2021, and has paid more than $23,000 in restitution.

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