SUNBURY – Northumberland County’s President Judge has been making changes to the court since taking over the job this year. Judge Charles Saylor has been on the bench for 14 years and as President Judge he has administrative as well as judicial duties to fill, “I’m responsible for all the administrative operations of the court system. I supervise all the district magisterial judges’ offices; I am a supervisor with regard to the various departments within the court system. I would have all those responsibilities in addition to hearing my normal case load.”
In family court, Judge Saylor changed how custody cases are handled, “One of the most important decisions a judge makes is where a child is going to reside and so I felt custody cases should be heard and finally determined by one of the three judges.”
Previously, the cases were heard by an attorney who served as a Master Hearing Officer. That person now works as a mediator to try to resolve cases out of court.
On the criminal side, Judge Saylor has moved pre-trial conferences ten days prior to jury selection for a trial and has added status conferences, “So we now have status conferences every couple of months to keep track of cases, we have pre-trial conferences that are held in a more timely manner, so that we don’t have last-minute glitches.”
You can hear more of Judge Saylor’s interview on WKOK’s On The Mark online at wkok.com. (Jennifer Wakeman)
