Thompson magisterial office to move

The district judge’s office for the Bentleyville area will be moving back to Bentleyville Borough this fall.
Two years after a wildcat sewer leading to Pigeon Creek raised a stench at the Ellsworth office of District Judge Curtis Thompson, the Washington County commissioners have entered into a lease with Bentleyville Borough and received approval from Washington County President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca, who oversees all district judges.
The new address for the office will be 900 Main St., Suite 120, Bentleyville.
The rental rate of $10.87 per square foot for a total of 1,800 square feet will cost $1,956 per month, including utilities and cleaning service, for five years beginning Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2018.
Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 are scheduled as moving days for the office, so the first day Thompson will open for business in his new location should be Oct. 2.
The county will have two, five-year renewal options.
The magistrate’s office was located along Main Street in Bentleyville 15 years ago, albeit at the opposite end of Main.
In summer 2011, those visiting the magistrate’s office found a portable outhouse instead of indoor toilets. Part of the Ellsworth Fire Department social hall was renovated into district court offices about 15 years ago, but, as part of the $800-a-month-lease with the county, the fire department was to provide working sewers and all utilities to the magistrate’s office.
Magisterial District 27-03-2 includes, along with Bentleyville and Ellsworth, Beallsville, Cokeburg, Deemston and Marianna boroughs, and Somerset, West Pike Run, North Bethlehem and West Bethlehem townships.