When Jacob Tucker, ’21, was sworn into the Maryland Bar in December 2024, it was the fulfillment of his deep-seated calling to make a difference.
“This profession is more than just knowledge of the law, it’s about a duty of acting with integrity, serving others, and making a meaningful difference in my community,” he said at the time.
Tucker’s path to public service began during his childhood on Grand Island. He was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 14, and volunteered at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital throughout his teen years. He was awarded the P.R.I.D.E. (Positive, Responsible, Interested, Determined, and Enterprising) of the Island Award twice, an honor issued by the Grand Island Teacher’s Association.
“My parents instilled a social conscious in me,” he said. “I had to use my privilege to better the lives of my fellow man and help the most vulnerable.”
His desire to become a prosecutor was also something that he developed as a child, noting that he first declared this intent as a second-grade student. In pursuit of this goal, he enrolled at Niagara University as a history and political science major, with a minor in law and jurisprudence.
At Niagara, Tucker continued his community service as a Vincentian Scholar, one of a select group of students who work with local community leaders to promote education, health, law, and advocacy for marginalized populations. He served Community Missions Inc. and Neighborhood Legal Services during his time as a scholar. He was also chosen by Niagara University’s president, the Rev. James Maher, C.M., to promote teaching, learning, research, and service programs, and to serve at various institutional events as a member of the President’s Society.
Tucker learned more about the legal profession through organizations and activities including the Prelaw Association and the mock trial team which, under the mentorship of New York Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., competed against students attending the University at Buffalo School of Law. Tucker also completed an internship with Judge Kloch during his undergraduate years.
The support of his professors was pivotal during his time on Monteagle Ridge, Tucker said. They inspired his passion for human rights law, taught him how to structure an argument, encouraged him to present research at professional conferences, and coached him through the law school application process.
“All the faculty are personable and extremely bright,” he said.
Tucker took the LSAT and was accepted into several law schools, including those at the University at Buffalo and Syracuse University. However, his heart was set on attending American University Washington College of Law, where he was accepted in May 2021.
While at American University, Tucker completed a number of internships, including one with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he was involved with compassionate release cases, and another with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Elder Justice.
His fieldwork as a student attorney in the AUWCL Criminal Justice Clinic gave him experience prosecuting misdemeanor cases for the Prince George’s County State Attorney’s Office District Court Division under Rule 19, and “crystalized that this was what I wanted to do,” he said. Working with line prosecutors in the District Court Division and Firearm Enforcement Unit, Tucker managed 10 traffic dockets (eight as first chair) and five criminal dockets (two as first chair).
During his summer 2023 internship with the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office Special Victims Division, he conducted legal research and drafted various memoranda, including a 25-page motion in opposition to post-conviction relief.
“I met some of the most brilliant attorneys I’ve ever worked with in my life there,” he said. “They were truly dedicated and passionate and just remarkable public servants. By the end of that experience, I knew I wanted to work in that office with those people.”
In June 2025, Tucker achieved that goal when he was appointed an assistant state’s attorney for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, after having served as a post-bar fellow in its Special Victim’s Division since September of 2024. He hopes that he will be able to have an impact on “the victims we serve, the defendants we prosecute, and the community as a whole,” he said.
“My time at Niagara was rooted in service,” he continued, “and to be able to carry on that service to the people in Montgomery County and make a tangible difference in their lives, especially at such a vulnerable time in their lives as victims of crimes, is one of the greatest things that I could do.”
