The League of Women Voters of Centre County and Foxdale Village will host an evening with retired Centre County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas Kistler for a discussion about “Why Pennsylvania Courts Matter” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the Foxdale Village Auditorium, 500 E. Marylyn Ave, State College.
The event is open to the public without registration. For a Zoom link, email lwvcentrecounty@gmail.com
With five statewide judges up for retention votes on this November’s ballot, it’s a critical time to understand the court system in Pennsylvania and how it affects citizens’ lives. Kistler, now a senior judge for Pennsylvania courts, will provide an overview of the state’s court system, and answer live and Zoom audience questions.
Kistler earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Penn State, after which he worked as a trial lawyer. He was elected to the bench in 1997 as a Republican, and retained in the non-partisan election in 2007. Kistler retired in 2017, and became a senior judge in 2019.
“… [I]n my 20 years, I have held trials at a construction site or two, the Woodward Tavern, in a field looking at property corners and even in a barn in Yarnell. Sometimes justice just requires a hands-on view,” he stated in a Centre Daily Times column in 2017. He continued, “Families who deal with their problems through drug court, DUI court, family reunification or the Child Advocacy Center all know how improved the ‘system’ is from where it was just a few years ago.”
LWVCC aims for the community event to help voters learn about the Pennsylvania court system and the judge retention votes on the ballot in the Nov. 4 election.
A Pennsylvania judge is first elected in a partisan race, then is on the ballot for retention at the end of their term. The non-partisan retention vote (judges are not identified by party on this ballot) is either a YES to retain, or a NO to not retain. Retained judges continue to serve, and face retention votes until their retirement. Judges not retained will finish their term, then the governor appoints a new judge to serve until the next odd-year election.
