Mel, his wife, Monekia, and their two children reside in the Marlton community of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. A child of life long educators—his mother recently retiring after 40 years; his father, a former teacher, and currently a school administrator—Mel was born and raised in rural South Carolina. Building on the values of education and hard work instilled in him by his parents, Mel earned his B.A. degree in political science from the University of South Carolina, in 1998, and his Juris Doctorate from Duke University School of Law in 2001.

Having heard about the revitalization occurring in Prince George’s County and the opportunities it provided, Mel moved to the County after law school. He served for over four years as a Federal Attorney with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) where he fought against the kind of illegal business practices that raise the prices of groceries, health care, prescription drugs, job services, and many other goods and services most Americans budget for carefully.

He left federal service and worked at the private law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP.

But after two years, Mel followed his true calling and returned to public service as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland where he continued to fight to improve the quality of health care and get resources to communities in need.

Mel has a distinguished record of service to Prince George’s County, passionately and successfully advocating for the best interests of residents on a wide variety of issues important to our quality of life:

As a member of the Board of Trustees of the Prince George’s Community College, he has worked to prepare residents of all ages to compete in the 21st Century Economy in addition to confronting the challenges of college and career readiness facing our high school graduates.
In Annapolis, he pushed for raising the high school dropout age to 18; and he worked to remove state limits on the number of prosecutors our County State’s Attorney’s Office can hire—a measure enacted into law in 2008.
Mel began addressing the foreclosure issues in its earliest days, cohosting a Foreclosure Workshop at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church that assisted hundreds of Prince Georgians in housing distress, with many receiving reductions in their mortgage payments.
And he’s worked with parents and elected officials to support bringing new schools to south county, which resulted in a new elementary school and renovated middle school in Accokeek

Because of his track record of success, Mel has become a leader on many issues of critical importance to citizens of Prince George’s County.

Mel came to Prince George’s County because he saw its potential to lead not only this region, but the world. Working first at the grassroots level with civic, HOA and community organizations, and now with his colleagues on the County Council, Mel is helping the County to fulfill that potential. But he knows that there is so much more to be done. The world is coming to Prince George’s County, and Mel Franklin is working hard every day to be sure that we’re ready to welcome it.

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Mel Franklin