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PETITION FOR RENEWED 
DECLARATION OF JUDICIAL EMERGENCY 

Pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 1952, and further to the Supreme Court’s order of June 

29, 2021, entered in the above-captioned matter, and its order June 21, 2021, 

entered in In re: General Statewide Judicial Emergency, No. 553 Judicial 

Administration Docket, the 20th Judicial District hereby petitions for a renewal of 

the judicial emergency that was previously declared in the 20th Judicial District and 

which ended on August 31, 2021. 

Relief Requested 

The 20th Judicial District seeks an order from the Supreme Court 

authorizing it to enter the administrative order attached hereto at Exhibit A (the 

“Temporary Order”).  The net effect of the Temporary Order is as follows: 

1.  A judicial emergency is declared with respect to the magisterial district courts 

of the 20th Judicial District for the period between December 6th and December 

10th, 2021.   

2.  Magisterial District Court 20-03-04, located in Orbisonia Borough, Huntingdon 

County, will be closed during the above period.  Persons who need to make 

filings in the Orbisonia MDC during this time will be directed to make those 

filings in the Huntingdon County Central Court via the Office of Court 

Administration, located at the Huntingdon County Courthouse. 

3.  The December 8, 2021, session of Magisterial District Court 20-03-00, the 

Huntingdon County Central Court, will be relocated from the facilities of 

Magisterial District Court 20-03-02 to the facilities of the Huntingdon County 

Court of Common Pleas, in Courtroom 2 of the Huntingdon County Courthouse.  

   

 

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT PENNSYLVANIA 
MIDDLE DISTRICT 
 

IN RE: 20th Judicial District –  
Declaration of Judicial Emergency 

No. 33-MM-2020 

 
: 
: 

 

 

 

Further, Senior Judge Stewart L. Kurtz will preside over all proceedings in the 

Central Court that day. 

t is anticipated normal operations in the magisterial district courts will 

resume on December 13, 2021.  However, in addition to the above requested relief, 

the 20th Judicial District requests the right to extend the above emergency for an 

additional week, from December 13th through December 17th, 2021, without 

further petition to the Supreme Court, should the circumstances giving rise to the 

temporary judicial emergency continue during such time. 

 
Background and Circumstances  
Necessitating Renewed Declaration of Judicial Emergency 

1.  The magisterial district courts of the 20th Judicial District are experiencing a 

severe shortage of judicial and administrative staff due to recent COVID-19 

infections and exposures, as two-thirds of the judicial staff and one-third of the 

administrative staff are under quarantine.  The Orbisonia MDC has been hit 

particularly hard.   

2.  The affected magisterial district judges are conducting as many proceedings as 

possible by means of advanced communication technology (e.g., Zoom), but this 

does not address the shortage of administrative staff necessary for normal 

MDC operations.  It also does not address the limited availability of certain of 

the MDJs at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

3.  The 20th Judicial District has continued as many of the matters pending in the 

MDCs in the near term as it reasonably can to alleviate this staff shortage.  

However, there simply is not enough staff available to enable full operation of 

the MDCs for the week of December 6th through December 10th, 2021. 

4.  Temporary closure of the Orbisonia MDC—which has been the hardest hit—

will allow near-normal operation of the remaining MDCs.  Shifting all filings for 

this MDC to the Huntingdon County Central Court during the temporary closure 

will enable continued public access to the courts.  The Office of Court 

Administration represents a reasonable temporary relocation of the place for 

filings that ordinarily would be made in the Orbisonia MDC, is readily 

  I

 

2 

EXHIBIT A 

Proposed Administrative Order 
 Declaring Judicial Emergency 

Please see attached. 

 

 

 

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
MIDDLE DISTRICT 
 
AND 
 
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA 

IN RE: 20th Judicial District – Temporary 
Closure and Relocation of Magisterial 
District Court Facilities  
 

 
: 
: 
: 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 
 

33 MM 2020 
CP-31-MD-136-2021 
AO-8-2021 

AND NOW, this 6th day of December, 2021, pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 1952 and 

the authority previously granted to this Court to address issues arising from the 

COVID-19 pandemic under docket no. 33 MM 2020, the 20th Judicial District hereby 

declares a temporary judicial emergency and issues the following administrative 

order.   

1.  Recent COVID-19 exposures and quarantine requirements have resulted in 

a shortage of judicial and administrative staff in the magisterial district 

courts of the 20th Judicial District.  This shortage is anticipated to last from 

one to two weeks.  Facility closure and relocation, along with staff 

reassignment, is required to address the shortage and allow for continued 

operation of the magisterial district courts. 

2.  Magisterial District Court 20-03-04, located in Orbisonia, will be closed 

from December 6th through December 10th, 2021.   

a.  All matters scheduled for proceedings before the Orbisonia MDC during 

this period will be continued to a later date.   

b.  All filings to be made at the Orbisonia MDC during this time are instead 

to be made at the Huntingdon County Central Court.  The filing office for 

such court will be the Office of Court Administration, located on the 2nd 

floor of the Huntingdon County Courthouse.  Questions may be directed 

to the Central Court Coordinator at 814-643-5078, extension 139. 

3.  Magisterial District Court 20-03-00, Central Court, which ordinarily is co-

located with Magisterial District Court 20-03-02 at the Bailey Building in 

Huntingdon, is hereby relocated to Courtroom 2 of the Huntingdon County 

Courthouse for all proceedings occurring on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.  

All proceedings occurring that day shall be presided over by Senior Judge 

Stewart L. Kurtz.  

4.  It is anticipated that normal operations in the magisterial district courts 

will resume on December 13, 2021.  The Court notes, however, that this is 

contingent on staff availability.  Notice of any extension of this 

administrative order will be provided in the same manner as for this order. 

5.  No changes are made with respect to the operations of Magisterial District 

Courts 20-03-01 or 20-03-02, located in Alexandria and Huntingdon, 

respectively.  Further, no changes are made with respect to the operation of 

the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas. 

_______________________________________ 
George N. Zanic, President Judge 

BY THE COURT: 

    _

Irene Bizzoso, Esq., Supreme Court Prothonotary 
Geoff Moulton, Court Administrator of Pennsylvania 
Stacey Witlec  
Magisterial District Judge Douglas L. Gummo 
Magisterial District Judge Rufus S. Brenneman 
Magisterial District Judge Lisa M. Covert 
Magisterial District Court Staff  
David G. Smith, District Attorney 
Fredrick Gutshall, Esq., Director, Office of Court Appointed Counsel 
Angela J. Robinson, District Court Administrator 
Huntingdon County Bar Association 
The Daily News, Huntingdon, PA 

   

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Dec. 6 - Huntingdon County - MDJ Emergency Petition

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About This Form:

Sourced from www.pacourts.us (2023-03)
Page(s): 6
Fields(s): 1
Average fields per page: 0
Reading Level: Grade 12
LIST Grouping(s): HO-00-00-00-00, CO-07-00-00-00, CO-00-00-00-00.

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george_n_zanic_president_judge was george_n__zanic__president_judge (0.49 conf)

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The Legal Innovation & Technology Lab's Form Explorer Beta @ Suffolk Law School Last updated 2023-04-02

Dec. 6 - Huntingdon County - MDJ Emergency Petition

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The Legal Innovation & Technology Lab's Form Explorer ^Beta @ Suffolk Law School Last updated 2023-04-02