Judge Elizabeth Kelly, longest-tenured member of Erie County Court, will retire in April

Erie County Judge Elizabeth K. Kelly is retiring, ending a nearly 25-year career as an elected member of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, where she is its longest-tenured member.

Kelly, 65, was first elected to the nine-member local bench in November 1999 and took office in January 2000. She is the second woman elected Erie County judge, and the first woman to serve as president judge of the local bench, a post she held from 2005 to 2009.

Kelly submitted her resignation letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday morning. She is resigning her position "for my retirement, effective at the end of business on April 8, 2024," according to the one-paragraph letter.

Though she is retiring as an elected judge, Kelly plans to continue to be a presence at the Erie County Courthouse through at least 2024.

She said she is tentatively scheduled to work a number of days a month through 2024 as a senior judge in Erie County, and will work into 2025 if necessary, pending the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts approving her status as a senior judge. Kelly's seat will be up for election in 2025, the year of the next municipal election, and a new elected judge will take office in January 2026.

"Once I retire," Kelly said in an interview, "I am not going away."

Kelly's retirement opens a seat on Erie County bench

Kelly's retirement as an elected judge nonetheless means another seat is open on the local bench, which most recently filled a vacancy with the election of Erie lawyer Peter Sala as judge in November. Sala took office on Tuesday and filled the seat left open with the abrupt retirement of Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich in May 2022.

Swearing-in: Peter Sala takes oath as Erie County's newest judge, highlighting induction ceremony

Domitrovich, first elected in 1989 and the first woman to be a Common Pleas Court judge in Erie County, had been the longest-tenured member of the local bench.

Kelly's seat can be filled two ways. Shapiro could appoint someone to fill her seat until the winner of the judicial race, in 2025, takes office. The state Senate would have to confirm Shapiro's nominee with a two-thirds vote.

The seat could also remain vacant until a new judge is elected in 2025 and takes office in January 2026. Kelly's assignment as a senior judge — plus the local courts' use of other senior judges, such retired Erie County Judges Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. and William R. Cunningham — means the caseload of the local bench will be covered despite the lack of an elected judge.

Why is judge Kelly retiring, and what is next for her?

Kelly is retiring 10 years before she reaches 75, the mandatory retirement age for elected judges in Pennsylvania. She is also retiring with five years left in her current 10-year term. After getting elected to her first 10-year-term in 1999, Kelly was retained in 2009 and 2019.

Kelly said she is retiring as an elected judge now because of the quality of the local bench and because she believes the time has come for a new judge to bring new views to the role.

"We have a deep bench with so many competent judges," Kelly said. "They are solid. And they are dedicated to coming in every day and serving Erie County. They are team players."

Speaking of her departure, Kelly said. "I think 25 years is a long time to hold this position, and I think it is time for a fresh perspective."

Kelly, who lives in the city of Erie, said she intends to travel during her retirement, spend time with her family, including her 25-year-old daughter, and pursue her passion for 19th-century American art using the master's degree in museum studies that she recently received from John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Kelly is also a scuba diver with the Pennsylvania Archeological Shipwreck and Survey Team, which explores shipwrecks in Lake Erie.

"That is another interest of mine that I will continue to pursue," Kelly said.

And Kelly, known for her athletic prowess, will also be swimming and running and biking in retirement. She has qualified to represent the United States as a member of Team USA in 2024 in both the international championships for triathlon, in Spain, and for aquathlon, in Australia.

Fellow judges laud Kelly's tenure on court

Kelly, who comes from a family of lawyers, spent her entire judicial career in the Family Division of the local bench, which includes Family Court. She pledged on the campaign trail in 1999 that she would serve in Family Division, where many proceedings involve custody and dependency, rather than in the more headline-grabbing Trial Division, the home of criminal and civil cases.

"I wanted to prioritize Family Court as a very important division," said Kelly, who for much of her career presided over hearings in Courtroom H, the county courthouse's oldest and largest courtroom. "It has been an honor to help our families through some of the worst times in their lives."

She earned high marks as a judge locally. When she last ran for retention, in 2019, members of the Erie County Bar Association gave her high scores in a poll.

Of the lawyers surveyed, 86% supported her retention, 8% voted against her retention and 6% had no opinion. The members also rated Kelly's performance in a number of areas on a scale from one to five, with five being the highest. Kelly received a 4.6 out of five for competence, a 4.7 for integrity and a 4.3 for temperament.

Kelly also made her mark statewide. She served on the Judicial Ethics Committee and Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission.

Kelly has served the local bench well, said her friend and colleague, Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla. Elected in 2001, he is the second-longest tenured elected member of the local bench. Only Kelly has served longer.

On Tuesday, at the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected county officials at the courthouse, Trucilla hinted at Kelly's retirement and praised her for her legal acumen and collegiality. Kelly looked on along with the other judges.

"She will be missed," Trucilla said on Tuesday.

In an interview on Friday, Trucilla called Kelly "a pioneer on the bench." He cited her time as president judge and her time as the administrative judge for the Family Division of the local courts.

"She was always a woman of great character, even temperament and tremendous competence," Trucilla said. "She was benevolent when it called for it, firm when it mandated it, and, when in leadership positions, she always led from the front. She never balked or hesitated at taking difficult cases."

Judge Joseph M. Walsh III, Erie County's president judge since January 2021, said Kelly has been "a great resource" for him as he has handled matters as the top administrative judge for the local courts.

"She has always been willing to help out and give you whatever time you need," Walsh said. Of her retirement, he said, "We are sad for ourselves but happy for her."

Walsh said he is glad that Kelly has decided to work as a senior judge. He said her nearly 25 years of experience on the bench is invaluable.

"The fact that she is willing to help us out, I think speaks volumes about her character," Walsh said.

Erie County's Common Pleas Court judges

● Joseph M. Walsh III, elected in 2015; president judge for five-year term that started in January 2021.

● Elizabeth K. Kelly, elected in 1999. She is retiring as an elected judge on April 8.

● John J. Trucilla, elected in 2001; heads Family Division.

● Daniel Brabender, elected in 2009.

● John J. Mead, elected in 2015; heads Trial Division.

● Erin Connelly Marucci, elected in 2019.

● David Ridge, elected in 2019.

● Marshall Piccinini, appointed by then Gov. Tom Wolf in 2019 to fill a vacancy; elected in 2021.

● Peter Sala, elected in November 2023; took office on Tuesday.

Common Pleas Court judges in Pennsylvania make $219,933 a year, based on the General Assembly-approved salary schedule for 2024, with the president judges in each county making slightly more. Senior judges, or retired judges, earn $683 per day for handling cases, though their overall annual compensation, including state retirement income, cannot exceed what they would make as elected judges.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Elizabeth Kelly, Erie County judge since 2000, will retire in April