The General Assembly created the state prosecutor's office in 1976 after a series of public corruption scandals in Maryland. The office, which is designed to be independent of political influence, can initiate investigations on its own or at the request of the governor, legislature or other top officials. Rohrbaugh is the third person to head the office.
Rohrbaugh has never liked to take questions from reporters, especially those who want to pry into his personal life and probe his views on keeping government honest. He declined to be interviewed for this article and wouldn't agree to a photograph.
According to a report his office issued four years ago, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Wittenburg University in Ohio in 1969 and his law degree from American University's Washington College of Law in 1972. The report said he is married and has two daughters. He lives in Brinklow in Montgomery County.
FOR THE RECORD - Articles in Sunday's and yesterday's editions of The Sun about the state prosecutor's investigation of Mayor Sheila Dixon misspelled the name of attorney Gerard P. Martin.
The Sun regrets the error.
Four years ago, after his appointment was announced, Rohrbaugh made a brief statement that gave no hint as to how he would run the office, which some at the time argued had become dangerously atrophied "I think it's an exciting position," Rohrbaugh told The Sun.
Rohrbaugh started his law career in the 1970s. He was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1974 to 1980. The man who put him in the job was former U.S. Attorney George Beall, who at the time of his appointment called Rohrbaugh an "experienced practitioner" and a professional who is "genuinely admired by members of the judiciary."
One of the admirers at the time was former Assistant U.S. Attorney Dale Kelberman, who started in the federal prosecutor's office after Rohrbaugh had moved on, but who knew him from alumni gatherings. He said then that Rohrbaugh was "a person of integrity."
Now Kelberman is an attorney in private practice with a high-profile client: Sheila Dixon. He said that's changed his opinion of the state prosecutor, but only slightly.
"I still think he's a person of integrity, but we have a difference of opinion about how to conduct an investigation," Kelberman said.
"I do find it interesting," Kelberman said of the change of circumstances.
After his time with the U.S. attorney's office, Rohrbaugh went into private practice in Rockville. He specialized in product liability cases involving child restraints.
