Charles Apotheker was born in the Bronx, NY, attended local public schools and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School (1964). He is a graduate of CCNY (1968) and St. John’s University Law School (1973). Judge Apotheker is also an honorably discharged veteran of the US Army Reserve.
Judge Apotheker was elected Town Justice of the Town of Haverstraw in 1979 and served as Town Justice for 27 consecutive years.
Judge Apotheker was appointed as Rockland County’s Misdemeanor Drug Court Judge in March 2000 and served in that capacity until February 2002, when Rockland’s Drug Court was transferred to the Rockland County Court. In 2004, Judge Apotheker was appointed to the faculty of the National Drug Court Institute. Since that time, he has mentored numerous Drug Court teams throughout the United States. He has also lectured at the annual Conference of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. In addition, he has served as a facilitator for the Office of Court Administration at State Drug Court trainings and as a member of the Statewide Drug Court Strategic Planning Committee. He has been a Peer Reviewer for Drug Court related grant applications for the Bureau of Justice Affairs of the United States Department of Justice, as well.
In 2006, Judge Apotheker was elected as Rockland County Court Judge. He was soon appointed as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court and as Supervising Judge for the Town and Village Courts in the 9th District, supervising 127 courts and approximately 250 town and village justices. At that time, he was appointed as Rockland’s Felony Drug Court Judge. During his term, the population of Rockland’s Drug Court rose from approximately forty participants to nearly one hundred participants and the minority population in Drug Court significantly increased, reflecting the diversity of Rockland County.
Since leaving the bench at the end of 2016, Judge Apotheker was Of Counsel to the law firm of Phillips and Millman LLP. On January 1, 2020, he was appointed as Rockland County First Assistant District Attorney in charge of the Alternatives to Incarceration Programs.
Judge Apotheker and his wife Francine have resided in Rockland County since 1972.