Hon. Sherry M. Trafford has served as a Magistrate Judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since February 2016. She has presided over calendars in all Divisions of the Court. From November 2019 through December 2024, she served on the Chief Judge’s leadership team, first as Deputy Presiding Magistrate Judge and then as Presiding Magistrate Judge. 

Before her appointment, Judge Trafford was a staff attorney for the Mental Health Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She represented individuals in all stages of civil mental health commitment proceedings and in criminal NGI post-commitment hearings. She began her career at the Public Defender Service in its Civil Division, representing individuals in civil matters ancillary to their criminal cases. Before going to PDS, she was the recipient of a prestigious Skadden Public Interest Law Fellowship, which allowed her to serve as a staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, providing technical assistance and training on the rights of persons with disabilities under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Judge Trafford received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University and her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable William B. Bryant on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She served as the Board Chair for the Open Doors Chapter of More Light Presbyterians and now serves on the Board of Directors for Miriam’s Kitchen.