WHITEHALL (AP) - State and local police and the coroner are investigating after a district judge was found dead in his eastern Pennsylvania home.

Police were called to Whitehall District Judge Robert Halal's home about 2:30 p.m. Monday. He was officially pronounced dead shortly after 4 p.m. once Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim was called to the scene.Halal's court office was closed by 3 p.m. Monday, and a sign said that was "due to an emergency."Whitehall Township police Chief Michael Marks says the investigation was continuing and that an autopsy was set for Tuesday. The coroner's office was unable to provide additional information Tuesday morning.A district judge is the lowest level judge in Pennsylvania, much like a justice of the peace in other states. Halal was 52 and had served since 2007.