Beaver County magisterial court assessment of past decade released, no changes planned

Garret Roberts, Beaver County Times
·1 min read

As district courts across Pennsylvania assess their workloads and plan redistricting, Beaver County's courts are planning to keep the status quo for the next 10 years.

Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's mandate for county courts each decade, Beaver County has released the workloads faced by its eight district courts from 2012 to 2022. Based on the data presented in the study, the county plans to keep the current format for the district courts and proceed into the future without any planned changes.

District judges are locally elected in the districts they serve, and have jurisdiction over minor criminal offenses, traffic violations and civil actions.
District judges are locally elected in the districts they serve, and have jurisdiction over minor criminal offenses, traffic violations and civil actions.

According to the report, Beaver County had an average total caseload of 4,376 cases from 2014 to 2019, placing it slightly higher than the average for other Fourth Class counties in Pennsylvania. While some local district courts saw larger workloads over this period, the courts suggested no changes or modifications to their typical coverage areas at this time.

Data for 2020 was omitted from the most recent study on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly slowed the court system.

Significant changes did occur during the last courts' assessment in 2012, with officials deciding to merge the Aliquippa and Hopewell Township communities in 2016. The last assessment also adjusted balance workloads, moving Rochester Township from Freedom's district court to New Brighton's court.

The public may make comments on the recent report, as well as any potential redistricting of courts that they would like to see, until Feb. 25. Comments can be submitted by email at reestablishmentcomments@beavercounty.gov or sent via U.S. mail to the Office of the Court Administrator, Beaver County Courthouse, 810 Third St., Beaver, PA 15009.

Comments may also be dropped off in person at the court administrator's office on the second floor of the Beaver County Courthouse during normal business hours.

Garret Roberts is the local Public Priority reporter for The Beaver County Times. He can be contacted at groberts1@gannett.com and can be followed on Twitter at @ReportedRoberts.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver County court assessment determines no redistricting necessary