Anne Arundel Co. circuit judge to retire by summer

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller Jr. will retire by the end of June, creating a fourth vacancy on the 10-judge bench and giving Gov. Parris N. Glendening the opportunity to have chosen all of its judges.

Speculation that Heller, a judge for 18 years, would retire when he turned 60 on March 8 had been rampant for months, even after he told the governor last summer that he wished to be reappointed for a second 15-year term.

During a February vacation "it started to feel right to me that the time was now," he said.

An Annapolis resident, Heller said he hopes to travel this summer and is open to returning to the bench in retirement, especially to help settle cases.