District Justice Fred Miller was again certified for service as a member of Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System after successful completion of continuing legal education course work.
Conducted by the Minor Judiciary Education Board and the Administrative Offfice of Pennsylvania Courts, the “school” for district justices is held in Chambersburg.
The week-long instructional program is designed to ensure that district justices remain current in a variety of legal topics and management techniques required to fairly adjudicate cases and effectively run a district justice office. Included in this year’s curriculum are updates on civil and criminal law and the motor vehicle code; an overview of consumer protection law; and a presentation by the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Pennsylvania.
Continuing education course work is required by statute of each of the more than 500 Pennsylvania district justices, with approximately 45 district justices attending one of 14 such classes at some time during each year.
District justices represent the “grass roots” level of Pennsylvania’s judicial system. In counties other than Philadelphia, district justices have jurisdiction over summary, criminal and motor vehicle cases; landlord-tenant; and other civil actions where the amount claimed does not exceed $8,000. District justices may also accept guilty pleas in misdemeanor cases of the third degree under certain circumstances. They also have jurisdiction to issue arrest and search warrants and to hold arraignments and preliminary hearings in criminal cases.
Established by Constitution, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts provides support to the Supreme Court in exercising its supervisory duties over each of the other state courts. The Minor Judiciary Education Board was established by legislative act to administer the continuing education program for district justices and Philadelphia bail commissioners, as well as certifying courses for district justices, bail commissioners and other minor court judges.
