One of the incumbent magistrates is running again
SUNBURY – Experience is the key pitch for Magisterial District Judge John Reed of Snyder County as he seeks reelection. Reed made a campaign appearance on WKOK’s On The Mark recently and said he hopes to be re-nominated in the Pennsylvania Spring Primary election next week.
He talked about the challenges of running the magistrate’s office effectively, “The complexity of sorting through the differences for each individual that comes through and trying to get to a just result, and doing it in a timely, effective, manner. Making sure that people have access to the courts. Keeping it running on an efficient basis so we don’t have people sitting around for a long time, any more than necessary.”
As for some of the late night arraignments, and being ‘on-call,’ “Magistrates are called out, sometimes in the middle of the night to take care of these matters. When they come in, sometimes people are in an interesting condition when they arrive. Sometimes they’re intoxicated. Sometimes they’re under the influence of things.”
As for some of the tough decisions that have to be made in the courtroom, “Deciding that somebody has to go to jail, for example, or you have to impose a fine. That’s difficult for some people to pay. Sometimes there are mandatory fines, you don’t have any discretion in it. It you find that they’re guilty, you have to impose a certain amount. Then there’s the work of dealing with this situation, you have to follow up on it, collect these sums when it’s necessary.”
Magistrate John Reed’s name appears on the Republican and Democratic ballot in next week’s election. You can hear his On The Mark interview at WKOK.com. He is running unopposed for the $89,000 per year position.
