It’s a nice job, if you can get it. You don’t have to report to work every day, you can rake in money from another job, and you might even walk away with a pension and lifetime health care.

That’s the good life many district judges in Pennsylvania enjoy. They earn $93,338 a year, and although they sometimes have to rule on complex law issues, they don’t even have to have a law degree.

The state’s 512 district judges are elected, and they handle issues of direct importance to Pennsylvania residents. They hear traffic cases, set bail amounts in criminal cases and rule on civil disputes. And while some have full workloads and put in significant hours doing the people’s work, others are regularly absent from the courtroom and can even hold down demanding side jobs like a law practice or running a business.

PennLive reporters Christine Vendel and Daniel Simmons-Ritchie teamed up with Spotlight PA for more than a year to investigate district judges in the commonwealth. They discovered that in 2019, about 10% of the judges weren’t in court for what amounted to 60 days or more. That’s excluding holidays, weekends and legitimate absences for training.

Greg Johnson, a Dauphin County magisterial district judge, sometimes had court proceedings only two days a week in 2019. That allowed him plenty of time to run his family business — a nursery and landscaping company near Harrisburg.

But Johnson is far from the only judge with such a light workload. PennLive’s investigation showed Judge Robert Radano in Delaware County was able to pursue a law practice on the side, with time out of court that amounted to five months off.

In Allegheny County, Judge Anthony Saveikis had 96 days without any court proceedings, allowing him to work three other jobs — lawyer, energy company owner and real estate partner.

The real question behind this investigation is whether the whole district judge system needs an overhaul. We think it does.

PennLive’s reporting raises three major questions that we call on officials to move now to address:

• How many district judges are needed per county, according to amount and complexity of workload? Could the number be cut in counties where most of the judges have many days without scheduled court proceedings?

• Should more district court operations be centralized, with fewer offices and judges rotating duties to streamline coverage and save money?

• Should district judges be required to hold law licenses?

All of these are valid questions that deserve serious consideration, especially the last one. Thorough knowledge of the law would seem to be a desirable quality, if not a prerequisite to bestow a gavel and all of its power.

Thanks to PennLive’s investigation, movement seems be underway on the first two questions.

Dauphin County President Judge John Cherry has pledged to try to redraw district boundaries to help ensure a more equitable distribution of cases among judges.

Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo has suggested centralizing magisterial district judge offices to make the system operate more efficiently. Centralizing the district court system also could result in the need for fewer judges with little to do all day long while taxpayers foot the bill.

And U.S. Attorney David Freed is suggesting the state look into the workload of judges in every county more often. Now, an assessment must be done every 10 years. He’s suggesting that be shortened to every four years. We agree.

Some counties have moved to centralize their magisterial districts, reaping significant savings. We recommend all counties do so, as well. COVID-19 has forced judges in the state to move in that direction, with promising results, including speedier hearings. We would see even greater savings and efficiencies if some of the district offices were closed and staff reduced.

Next year, the state is scheduled to look into the workload for district judges and make recommendations on whether fewer judges are needed. The Supreme Court ultimately must decide, but it’s hard to deny the facts.

Too many judges throughout the state are doing too little, wasting taxpayer dollars that are sorely needed elsewhere. If the rest of us have to put in our full 40 hours, why shouldn’t judges be expected to do the same?

— PennLive (TNS)