A move by Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin, designed to streamline caseloads for the county's district judges, has been implemented earlier than expected.

Baldwin asked the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court to adjust the district territories by eliminating one district and revising the coverage area of the remaining seven districts. The state Supreme Court agreed with Baldwin's recommendation and made it effective April 1, a lot earlier than anyone expected.District Judge Steven Bayer, whose office is located in Tamaqua, has some big changes to implement. His newly- revised district will consist of Tamaqua, McAdoo and Coaldale boroughs, as well as Rush and Kline townships."While the redistricting plan looked to maximize the opportunity to shift and rebalance cases in the district courts, with the closing of one of the two Pottsville district courts, geography played a big part in which municipalities were best served by a particular court," Bayer said when contacted."Being in the most easterly portion of the county, it was hard to move any of the municipalities into or out of the district I serve," he continued. "For me, personally, it is difficult because after all this time you get to know and build working relationships with the people of these communities. However, running at the previous level we did, we are conditioned at this point for the workload; and we look forward to continuing to serve all users of the court in an efficient and professional manner."The redistricting was proposed by Baldwin with an eye to cost cutting and savings.The acceleration of the state Supreme Court order means that both West Penn and Ryan townships, which were part of Bayer's coverage area, will now be serviced by courts in Orwigsburg and Frackville, respectively.The order became effective, business-wise, as of Monday.The redistricting affects law enforcement personnel and individuals alike.