Sep 30, 2016 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman decided to keep the county’s magisterial district court maps the same.

In an order released Friday afternoon, Toothman explained he found no need to make changes to the court districts after pondering the idea over the past six weeks.

“After providing for public input, and fully considering the data available to the Office of District Court Administration, this court now finds no compelling justification to seek a change in the boundaries of the Magisterial District Courts …” Toothman wrote in the order.

Toothman considered redrawing the maps after he was approached by District Judge Glenn Bates last year to discuss returning Washington and Whiteley townships to his jurisdiction.

Toothman held two public hearings on the issue, Aug. 31 and Sept. 8, to get feedback from the public. No one from the public attended the first one.

The three magisterial districts were realigned in 2013 following the most recent census, and the past three years show an even distribution. However, the past two years with the new maps have shown the district overseen by former district judge Louis Dayich’s office has had a larger caseload, mostly because of traffic citations on Interstate 79.

Toothman could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.