MIDDLEBURG – Union/Snyder County Senior Judge Harold Woelfel Jr. has resigned from hearing cases in those two counties. This change comes after he was suspended by Union/Snyder President Judge Michael Hudock last weekend.
All this happens about three months after Woelfel revealed that he was an alcoholic. He disclosed the information at a DUI Treatment Court session in Snyder County. Woelfel, who has served as judge in the two counties for 19 years, oversaw the treatment courts in both Union and Snyder County. In his candid admission December 4, Woelfel told the treatment court that he had been sober for six months.
More recently, February 25, Woelfel was issued a traffic citation from the Selinsgrove Police Department for an incident February 20. Surveillance video showed Woelfel backing into another vehicle in the parking lot of Keller’s Beer in Selinsgrove. Woelfel can be seen checking for damage and then driving away.
President Judge Hudock suspended Woelfel from hearing any Union or Snyder County cases, and overseeing the treatment court. This week, Woelfel himself decided to resign from hearing any additional 17th judicial district cases in the future. Hudock will now be overseeing the treatment courts.
Woelfel still holds status as a senior judge, meaning he could be assigned on an as-needed basis to preside over hearings in any county in the state. There are over 100 senior judges in the state who hold this status. According to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, they are aware of Woelfel’s resignation from Snyder and Union County, and he has not yet been assigned elsewhere. (Sara Bartlett)