Winners in last November’s general election, newcomers and incumbents alike, took their oaths of office on the morning of Jan. 2 in the Lebanon Municipal Building’s Courtroom No. 1.
Lebanon County judges administered oaths to 14 elected officials before friends, relatives, colleagues, and dignitaries.
Longtime attorney Donna Long Brightbill became the first woman on Common Pleas Court in the county’s 210-year history. Common Pleas is the county’s highest court.
Solemn portraits of the 12 male judges who came before Long Brightbill looked down from Courtroom No. 1’s mahogany-paneled walls as she took her oath with her husband, former state Senator David Brightbill, at her side.
The significance of the occasion was not lost on Long Brightbill or President Judge John C. Tylwalk.
Tylwalk noted “this historic moment as we welcome the first woman to the Court of Common Pleas. I don’t think there’s a better person to fill that role than Donna Long Brightbill.”
Tylwalk added that Long Brightbill’s own portrait will soon be added to the courtroom wall, and that “I’ll be able to look at her every day for inspiration.”
Long Brightbill did not seem concerned about being a trailblazer.
“It’s a boys’ club, we can’t deny it,” she told the audience. “I’m used to a boys’ club. I have three brothers, I married a man, we have five sons, and I have four law partners, all men.”
“I’m fine with that, but on behalf of the other outstanding women lawyers we have in Lebanon County, past and present, I do think it’s about time that the face of this bench is going to change a little.”
Long Brightbill, 62, will serve a 10-year term, then will be eligible to stand for re-election in a “yes/no” retention vote. The mandatory retirement age for Common Pleas Court judges is 75.
Read More: A look at the future of the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas
Other officials sworn in for four-year terms are:
- Incumbent County Commissioners Jo Ellen Litz (D), Robert J. Phillips (R), and Michael J. Kuhn (R).
- Coroner Jeffrey A. Yocum, county treasurer Sallie A. Neuin, prothonotary/clerk of courts Barbara A. Smith, county controller Robert M. Mettley, and recorder of deeds Dawn M. Blauch, all Republican incumbents.
- Incumbent Lebanon City Councilman Brian Martin (R).
- First term Lebanon City Councilmen Sean Maguire (R) and George Potash (R).
Officials sworn in for six-year terms are:
- Incumbent Magisterial District Judges Anthony J. Verna Sr. (R) and Kim R. Wolfe (R).
- First term Magisterial District Judge David R. Warner Jr. (R).
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