Jan 21, 2026 By Mike Jones 3 min read

Help is on the way at the Washington County Courthouse.

Retired senior judges will soon be called upon to assist with the caseload as the Washington County Court of Common Pleas is down two judges following the retirement last summer of former president judge Gary Gilman and the recent election of Judge Brandon Neuman to the state Superior Court.

Their departures from the bench has meant there are only five judges working in the courthouse that has capacity for seven jurists on the bench. That has increased the workload of the current judges and will continue for another two years since elections to fill the two vacancies won’t happen until November 2027, barring an unexpected appointment from Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“We have five judges doing the work of seven,” Washington County Court Administrator Daniel Buzard said Tuesday. “They were busy before, and they’re a little bit busier now. (The courthouse staff) is just trying to be as efficient as possible.”

Senior Judge Katherine Emery, who previously served as president judge before retiring in early 2021, has a chambers in the courthouse and has been helping with some of the cases, but there are still gaps that need to be filled. Buzard expects more senior judges will be “confirmed imminently,” although there is no set schedule for when they will arrive.

“We have senior judge help and actually are in the process of confirming who and when,” Buzard said.

Stacey Witalec, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts that oversees the state’s judicial system, confirmed Tuesday that additional senior judges will soon be assigned to Washington County. Senior judges are retired from the bench and qualify for the part-time role if they have served at least 10 years, are at least 65 years old and whose age and years of experience combine to add up to 80 or more.

Gilman, who is not yet qualified to serve as a senior judge, retired from his position in July, leaving one seat open on the bench for the past six months. Neuman won election in November to the state Superior Court and was sworn-in to that position Jan. 7, leaving the court with a second vacancy that has now stretched its resources thin.

It’s not yet known if Shapiro, who is Democrat, will appoint temporary replacements to the bench with the approval of the Republican-led state Senate. A spokesman for the governor’s office said Tuesday that “no decisions have yet been made” on that topic.

Any judge appointed to the bench would have to run for election in 2027, when the two seats will be on the ballot.

“That’s a Harrisburg issue,” Buzard said when asked if he’s heard any rumblings of an appointment or two. “They’ll let us know if they do. All I can do is pray.”

Until help arrives, Buzard said the courthouse staff and judges will continue to work hard to keep the wheels of justice moving.

“(We’re) just doing the best we can. There’s no question it makes everything a little more difficult,” Buzard said. “We are circling the wagons and hoping to get an appointment or two. We’re hopeful, but we have no specific knowledge.”

The courthouse expanded to a seventh judge in 2019 and an additional courtroom was constructed a few years later in the former offices of the prothonotary and register of wills. The current bench includes President Judge Valarie Costanzo, Judge John DiSalle, Judge Michael Lucas, Judge Traci McDonald and Judge Jesse Pettit.