Bellefonte-based attorney Stephanie L. Cooper formally announced Wednesday afternoon her plans to run for a common-pleas judge seat in Centre County.
A registered Democrat, Cooper plans to cross-file to appear on both major parties’ ballots for the primary elections this year, according to a press release.
She is the third Centre Countian to indicate plans to run for a Court of Common Pleas judge seat in 2011. The other two are Jonathan Grine, a district judge in State College, and David C. Mason, a Philipsburg-based attorney.
All are vying for a single seat on the county bench. It will be vacated when sitting President Judge David E. Grine — Jonathan Grine’s father — steps down and retires at year’s end.
Would-be candidates will have until early March to file paperwork and secure their positions on the primary ballots.
According to her campaign announcement, Cooper has practiced law in the county for 16 years. She is a sole practitioner who focuses on family and criminal law, it says.
‘Attorney Cooper has also served as a solicitor for Centre County Children and Youth Services for over a decade, and has experience in a wide variety of other areas of legal practice,’ the announcement reads.
Cooper has lived in Bellefonte since 1994 and has two children in the school district there. She leads the board at Faith Center, a Bellefonte-based nonprofit group; provides pro bono legal work; and is a member at the First Presbyterian Church in Bellefonte, according to the announcement.
StateCollege.com will post more information as it becomes available.
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