Centre County’s top judge is ready to retire after a historic 15 years on the bench.
President Judge Pamela Ruest said on Monday that she plans to step down from the county Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 1.
Ruest became the Centre County Court of Common Pleas’ first female judge when she was elected in 2007. After winning retention in 2017, she became the county’s first female president judge when she succeeded the retired Judge Thomas Kistler in the role.
“It has been immensely rewarding and a true honor to have had the opportunity to serve the people of Centre County as one of their judges,” Ruest, who also served for 10 years on the Pennsylvania Trial Judges Judicial Ethics Committee, said in a statement. “Throughout my tenure as judge and president judge I have worked diligently to uphold the laws of our Commonwealth with integrity and fairness. I deeply appreciate the trust and support the people of this county have given me.”
Prior to serving as a judge, Ruest practiced law for 21 years, with a primary focus on family law, and was a partner at the McQuaide Blasko where she spent the last 10 years of her career as an attorney.
As president judge, Ruest was instrumental in the establishment of Centre County’s Drug Court aimed at fighting addiction through a program designed to rehabilitate high-risk and high-need offenders. She’s also helped to create a Mental Health Court that will be implemented in 2023.
Ruest guided the courts of Centre County through uncharted waters during the COVID-19 pandemic, working to keep court services open to citizens despite disruptions and closings nationwide.
Like her predecessor, Kistler, Ruest will continue as a senior judge following her retirement. Senior judges are assigned as needed by their county court of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts for circumstances such as increased caseloads, temporarily filling a judicial vacancy and when an out-of-county judge is needed because of conflicts of interest.
Ruest’s retirement means a Court of Common Pleas judgeship will be on the ballot in 2023.
As for the role of president judge, the state Constitution calls for the position to go to the judge with the longest continuous service in their court. That puts Judge Jonathan Grine, first elected in 2011, next in line to be Centre County president judge.
