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Judges’ districts will shift in Aug.

3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County will keep its three district judges, though two of their districts will be realigned under a plan approved Tuesday by the state Supreme Court.

The realignment, which will shift Perry, Whiteley and Washington townships from District Judge Glenn Bates’ district to the district of District Judge Louis Dayich, had been proposed by Greene County Court last year in its review of district boundaries. District Judge Lee Watson’s district will remain unchanged.

The realignment will be effective Aug. 1, according to the Supreme Court order.

State law requires counties to review the workloads and boundaries of their magisterial districts ever 10 years in conjunction with the census. President judges were instructed in late 2011 to review their county’s individual magisterial districts and submit recommendations to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

The process is supposed to determine how to allocate state court system resources to best serve citizens. Each county’s final proposal was then presented to the Supreme Court for review and approval.

President Judge William Nalitz and three district judges had met and developed a plan based on the Supreme Court’s guidelines, that among other things, took into account each district judge’s workload. Dayich’s was the lowest at the time.

According to the AOPC, the number of filings in the district judges’ offices from 2005 to 2010 were: Bates, 4,003; Watson, 2,738; and Dayich, 1,775.

It was determined that the three municipalities that would become part of Dayich’s district produced about 900 cases, Dayich said. Realigning the districts to include the three municipalities in his district would make the districts more equal in the number of cases they handle.

Dayich said Thursday that he is fine with the change.

“We expect an increase in our workload, and look forward to continuing to serve the needs of our existing constituents as well as needs of our new constituents,” he said.

Bates said the change will make little difference to him.

“I’ll be here at work anyway,” he said.

Much of the work Dayich will pick up will involve traffic violations on Interstate 79. Dayich’s district will include all of I-79, except for Franklin Township.

“There are other cases, but I would say the majority of (the cases he will pick up) is traffic off Interstate 79,” Bates said.

The state has been attempting to cut about 10 percent of its 539 district judge positions, said Art Heinz, spokesman for the AOPC. According to the 2010 census, Greene County saw a 4.9 percent decrease in population, declining from 40,672 to 38,686.

Population change, however, was only one of the factors considered in the review, Heinz said. Other factors included geography, or the distance a person would have to travel to reach a district judge, and the types of cases a district judge handles, he said.

As of Aug. 1, Dayich’s district will include Aleppo, Center, Freeport, Gilmore, Gray, Jackson, Morris, Perry, Richhill, Springhill, Washington, Wayne and Whiteley townships and Waynesburg Borough.

Bates’ district will include Clarksville and Jefferson boroughs and Franklin, Jefferson and Morgan townships.

Watson’s district, which remains unchanged, will include Carmichaels, Greensboro and Rices Landing boroughs and Cumberland, Dunkard, Greene and Monongahela townships.

District judges handle summary and traffic violations, small civil complaints, landlord-tenant disputes and preliminary hearings in criminal cases.

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