Apr 23, 2013 3 min read

None of the 11 magisterial district judges will be losing their jobs after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania approved a petition Tuesday calling for the re-establishment of nine districts and the realignment of two others.

The court announced Wednesday calls for the realignment of the areas covered by District Judges Robert Redlinger and Jay Weller. Effective Aug. 1, Redlinger will no longer handle East Washington. Weller, who now hears cases involving incidents in North and South Strabane townships, now will handle East Washington. Redlinger now will only hear cases involving Washington and North Franklin Township.

All of the remaining districts will remain the same.

This is the first time in 20 years Washington County has not lost a district judge position following a census. District judges handle summary and traffic violations, small civil complaints, landlord-tenant disputes and preliminary hearings in criminal cases.

After the 1990 census, the former offices of District Judges June Lilley in Chartiers Township and William Pelkey in California were closed and boundary lines were redrawn. After the 2000 census, District Judge Marjorie Teagarden of Canton Township retired and her area was redistributed to three other offices.

After the 2010 census, the state was looking to cut about 10 percent of the 539 district judge positions, said Art Heinz, spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania courts. President judges throughout the state, with the exception of Philadelphia, were asked to review the individual magisterial districts and submit recommendations.

In Washington County, the 11 district judges were asked to give President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca information about the growth in their district and what they were experiencing in their own offices, said District Judge Valarie Costanzo, president of the Special Court Judge’s Association of Washington County.

“Washington County, along with Butler County, were the only two counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania to experience growth between the 2000 and 2010 censuses,” Costanzo said. “The increase in population was noted as well as the affects of the Marcellus Shale gas industry.”

Costanzo’s said Redlinger’s office is the busiest in the county and moving East Washington will help even out the numbers to some extent.

“Moving some areas of the city were not even considered,” Costanzo said. “That would be too confusing. It is important for everyone to have access to the courts.”

“The state court system was being asked to undertake a number of cost-cutting moves,” Heinz said. “The courts can set the number of magisterial district judges, but not the number of trial court judges.”

“They looked around the state to see where a vacancy had occurred or was expected,” he added. “There areas could be realigned and positions phased out. No positions of sitting district judges were eliminated.”

About two dozen positions have been eliminated since the process began about two years ago.

Costanzo said the district judges are relieved by the court’s decision.

District Judge Gary Havelka, vice president of the county judge’s association, said he thinks everyone will be happy with the decision.

“The constituents will still have their judges in office,” Havelka said. “And the judges have a good camaraderie with each other. We are happy not to lose anyone.”