John Hartline

John Hartline has served as the Executive Director of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland since October 2013.  After assuming that position, he was appointed to the Rural Maryland Council (RMC) in 2014, served as the Chair of the RMC in 2019 through 2022 and continues as Chair of the Joint Planning Committee, member of RMC Rural Health Committee and Youth Engagement Committee.  Also in 2014, he was appointed by the Governor to the Patuxent River Commission and served as Chair of the Commission and continues serving on the Commission today. That same year, Mr. Hartline joined the Board of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area (SMHA) and is Treasurer of the Southern Maryland State Heritage Area. Since the creation of the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area (SMNHA) by an Act of Congress in December 2022 he has also served as Treasurer of the SMNHA, while promoting Heritage Tourism for the Southern Maryland Region.

Mr. Hartline is a Class A Member of the Board of Directors of the Maryland Broadband Cooperative, Treasurer from 2019 through 2023 and continues to serve on the MdBC Audit Committee. MdBC just completed a total network system upgrade to increase network speed by approximately 200 times its former level on the same network of fiber. The network now carries middle-mile traffic for tens-of-thousands of new customers in rural counties in Southern Maryland, Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. 

Mr. Hartline received a bachelor’s degree in computer science, with minors in mathematics, chemistry, and physics, from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from George Mason University in Virginia. Nearly 40 years ago, he moved to La Plata, Maryland, where he and his wife, Lorraine, raised their three sons: Adam, Christopher, and Alexander.