Jul 30, 2013 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – As of Thursday, anyone who receives a speeding ticket on Interstate 79 in Greene County in Perry, Whiteley and Washington townships will have to visit District Judge Lou Dayich in Waynesburg either to contest the violation or pay the fine.

Until that day, speeders and others who violate the motor vehicle code on I-79 in those three municipalities will have their cases handled, as they have been for many years, by District Judge Glenn Bates in Franklin Township.

On Thursday, the realignment of the districts of Greene County’s three district judges, which was approved in April by the state Supreme Court, takes effect.

Under the realignment, Perry, Whiteley and Washington townships, which have been part of Bates’ district will be included in Dayich’s district. District Judge Lee Watson’s district will remain unchanged.

The change will mean any tickets issued by police in those three municipalities or any criminal complaints for crimes that occur in those municipalities will be handled by Dayich, Bates said.

In addition, anyone who wants to file a civil complaint in those three municipalities, as of Thursday, will have to file them with Dayich, Bates said.

Any matter, either civil or criminal, filed prior to Thursday will remain with the district judge with whom it was filed, he said.

Bates said he has been in touch with state police and Southwest Regional Police Department, the only two police agencies serving those three municipalities regarding the change. They know of it and have made their officers aware of it, he said.

Any tickets or complaints issued in those three municipalities will also state the correct district judge office to which the person should visit to resolve the matter, he said.

State law requires counties to review the workloads and boundaries of their magisterial districts every 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.

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

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

As of Thursday, 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.