Opinion
No. 517
06-18-2019
IN RE: AMENDMENT OF RULE 701 OF THE RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION DOCKET ORDER PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 18th day of June, 2019, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rule 701 of the Rules of Judicial Administration is amended in the attached form.
To the extent that notice of proposed rulemaking would otherwise be required by Pa.R.J.A. No. 103, the immediate promulgation of the amendment is found to be in the interest of efficient administration.
This ORDER shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and the amendment shall be effective immediately. Additions are bolded and are underlined. Deletions are bolded and are [bracketed].
Rule 701. Assignment of judges to courts.
(A) Conditions Applicable for the Certification of Senior Magisterial District Judges, Judges or Justices.
(1) To be eligible for senior certification, a magisterial district judge, judge or justice:
(a) shall have served as a magisterial district judge, judge or justice, whether or not continuously or on the same court, by election or appointment for an aggregate period equaling ten years;
(b) shall not have been defeated for reelection or retention; and
(c) shall be at least sixty-five years of age on the date on which he or she begins senior service, or have a combination of years of judicial service plus age that totals at least seventy for magisterial district judges or at least eighty for judges and justices. However, this subsection (c) shall not apply to those serving in senior status as of the effective date of this rule.
(2) In addition to paragraph (1), any duly elected magisterial district judge, judge or justice, having an aggregate of five years of judicial service, who is required to retire due to mandatory retirement age, shall be eligible for certification.
(3) Senior status shall end on the last day of the calendar year in which a magisterial district judge, judge or justice attains age seventy-eight . [; however, those serving in senior status as of the effective date of this rule who were previously excepted from the age seventy-five limitation pursuant to the amendment of January 1, 1999 may continue to serve until the last day of the calendar year in which they attain age eighty.] * * * *