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, and currently serves as the Presiding Magistrate Judge. 

Before her to appointment, Judge Trafford was a staff attorney for the Mental Health Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia for twelve years. She represented individuals in all stages of civil commitment proceedings and in criminal NGI post-commitment hearings. Judge Trafford began her career at the Public Defender Service representing individuals in civil matters ancillary to their criminal cases. From 1997-1999, she was the recipient of a Skadden Public Interest Law Fellowship and served as a staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, where she provided 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. Following law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable William B. Bryant on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.