Hon. Jamel "Mel" Franklin

Prince George’s County Council Member Mel Franklin has been an At-Large Member of the County Council since December of 2018 and a Council Member since December of 2010. He is also a former two-time Chair of the County Council and former two-term Council Member for Councilmanic District 9, serving in that capacity from December of 2010 to December of 2018. As a prolific legislator, now in his tenth year on the Council, Council Member Franklin has authored over one hundred pieces of legislation adopted or enacted into law that focus on creating economic opportunity, higher quality development, and increased public investment in the people of Prince George’s County in areas including education, public safety, recreation, transportation, and human services. He is especially known for the landmark Jobs First and Jobs and Opportunity Acts, which established, for the first time, requirements for contracting opportunities for small and minority businesses based in Prince George’s County, local hiring requirements in county contracting, a local small business financial assistance program, and a mandate that half of county funds be deposited in small, minority or local banks. He also authored legislation requiring a community benefits agreement with MGM National Harbor Casino & Resort and incentive programs for encouraging economic development near transit. 

Council Member Franklin also served on the 21st Century School Facilities Commission, which successfully established policies to speed the building of new schools. One of these approaches is being utilized by PGCPS in a public-private-partnership (P3) to build 6 new schools (5 middle schools and e K-8 school) by 2024. Council Member Franklin is an attorney with a J.D. from Duke Law School and undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina. Prior to serving on the County Council, he was an Assistant Attorney General with the State of Maryland, member of the Board of Trustees of the Prince George’s Community College, a federal antitrust attorney with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and a private sector regulatory lawyer with a major international law firm. Council Member Franklin is also a proud father of two Prince George’s County Public Schools children.