Charlene Dukes is the first African American Deputy Public Defender for the State of Maryland and the youngest to hold that position in the history of the agency. She was appointed in August 2004, and manages an agency with more than 1,200 employees and a budget of over $85 million. 

At CCHS, Dukes was a member of Student Government and the Mock Trial Team and attended Howard University on a debate scholarship. Today, she is a Mock Trial coach and judge. While at Howard she worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and earned a Certificate of Outstanding Service. She graduated from law school at the University of Maryland in three years while working full-time as a counselor at a group home. 

Dukes is a member of the faculty at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association and a former adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. She has worked as in House Counsel for State Farm Insurance Co. and has taught and practiced civil and criminal litigation. She is a member of the Washington, D.C., the National and the Women’s Bar Associations and is licensed to practice law in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Texas, New York and before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

At CCHS, Dukes was an exchange student/host to Spain, an Albany County Legislative intern and a page for the New York State Assembly. She was also a member of the varsity track and soccer teams. She remains active in the community as a mentor and tutor and is committed to supporting organizations that provide funding for research and treatment of cancer, AIDS and kidney disease.

In 1997 she became a member of the National Organ Donation Society when she donated a kidney to her father. She has served on the Board of the Arena Players and has been a volunteer for the Woman in the Community organization.