OUR VIEW: Local voters to get unusual opportunity to pick judges

Back in 2006, The Herald’s spring Voters Guide featured a story detailing the duties of a magisterial district judge and the qualities that someone seeking the position ought to possess to do the job well.

According to that story, district court is “the lowest rung on the state judicial system’s ladder” where every criminal charge from shoplifting to murder originates. As well as arraigning criminal defendants and overseeing preliminary hearings that determine whether those charges proceed to court, district judges preside over minor civil cases, summary hearings on traffic citations and municipal code violations.

Anyone from 21 to 70 can run for the post and the only qualification is residency in the magisterial district, though a candidate has to pass a four-week certification course to be sworn in.

We pulled a copy of that voters guide out of the file cabinet last week after news broke that three of the county’s five district judges would be retiring by the end of the year.

The back-to-back-to-back announcements by James E. “Red” McMahon, William L. Fagley and Lawrence T. Silvis shook up local legal and political circles.

Mercer County President Judge Francis J. Fornelli called the situation unprecedented and vowed to keep the district courts open with staffing by senior district judges and, if need be, common pleas court judges.

“We’ll get the work done. I promise you that,” Fornelli told The Herald.

While we appreciate his optimism, we expect the wheels of justice to be slowed at least slightly by the void left by the three judges.

That said, we commend them for the timing of their decisions. Had any of the three DJs — none of whom will reach the mandatory age of 70 before their current terms expire in 2012 — waited until the new year, their seats would probably be filled by appointment and whoever was appointed would have a distinct advantage at the ballot box in 2011.

Instead the vacancies will be filled in special elections next year. While that news surely vexed would-be appointees (we’re thinking of a certain political figure who spread the news about one of the retirements months before it was announced) we’re relieved that voters, not political insiders, will determine the best person for the job.

If the past provides any window on the future, there will be more than enough candidates to chose from. The county elections office should expect a rush on nominating petitions next spring by candidates from the three magisterial districts, which cover Sharon, Sharpsville, Greenville, Grove City and wide swaths of eastern and northern Mercer County.

The last truly open race was in 2005. Six candidates ran to fill the Farrell-based office that ultimately went to District Judge Ronald E. Antos. (Mercer-based District Judge Lorinda Hinch, a former assistant district attorney, was appointed to the post before winning it outright in 2006.) Back in the 1995, eight people campaigned for the Mercer-based bench.

Presiding over district court is one of the choicest elective posts in local government. There are no prerequisites like a legal degree, the pay is great, and the six-year term of office is just long enough to become an institution before the next election. (Not that that really matters. No one in recent memory has even bothered to run against a sitting district judge.)

As the candidates emerge over the next several months, serious voters will need to evaluate their choices carefully.

Which brings us back to that old voters guide story. In an attempt to help voters make an informed decision about the race, we asked a couple of sitting district judges — Fagley and Silvis — what qualities they thought were important in a candidate.

Their answers were varied but there was common theme that we hope the field that finally emerges will embody: A district judge should understand the values and morals of the community they serve, be fair but firm, and understand that every case that comes before them has an impact on people.

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