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The Courts of Common Pleas are the general trial courts of Pennsylvania. They are organized into 60 judicial districts. Most districts follow the geographic boundaries of counties, but seven of the districts are comprised of two counties. Each district has from one to 93 judges and has a president judge and a court administrator.
Responsible for:
Appeals from the minor courts
Appeals not exclusively assigned to the other courts
The 439 judges of the court of common pleas are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections. Candidates may cross-file with both political parties for the partisan primaries, which are followed by general elections where the primary winners from each party compete.[3][4] Judges must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to continue serving after their first term. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation.[3][5]
The president judge of each Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas is chosen by either peer vote or seniority, depending on the size of the court. Statewide, all courts composed of more than seven individuals must select their chief judge by peer vote. Those with seven or fewer members select their chief by seniority.[3][6]
Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must:[3]
have state residence for at least one year;
be a district resident for at least one year (for common pleas judges);
be a member of the state bar; and
be under the age of 75.
While retirement at 75 is mandatory, judges may apply for senior judge status. Senior judges may serve as such until the last day of the calendar year in which they turn 78.[6]
Pennsylvania is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
Primary election
Though the state holds partisan elections, most candidates cross-file with the major political parties. If a candidate wins both the Republican and Democratic primary, he or she runs unopposed in the general election.
Retention election
All judges except those of the magisterial districts face retention elections following their initial term. After a judge has won an initial partisan election, subsequent terms are attained through retention elections. In retention elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the justice in office for another term. If the candidate receives more yes votes than no votes, he or she is successfully retained. If not, the candidate is not retained, and there will be a vacancy in that court upon the expiration of that term. This applies to all judges except magisterial district judges, who are always elected in partisan elections.[7][8]
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