Lehigh County will add an 11th judge after state lawmakers last week granted the county an additional judge under Act 58 of 2023.

“The court is grateful to the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners, Lehigh County executive, and the Pennsylvania General Assembly for supporting the addition of an 11th judge for the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County,” said President Judge Brian Johnson, Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County. “This will greatly assist the court in addressing the continually increasing demands on the court in our growing county.”

Lehigh County’s population has grown by 20% since 2004 - the last time a judge was added to the county bench - which has resulted in increased demand and increased challenges and complexity of the cases before the court.

Based on court statistics, Lehigh has some of the highest caseloads among similar counties but has as many as five fewer judges comparatively.

“The communities we serve have pushed us hard to make the criminal justice system work better for them,” state Rep. Peter Schweyer said. “With another highly qualified and competent judge, we will be one step closer to that because decisions made in our courtrooms directly impact the lives of people in our districts.”

According to data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Lehigh County routinely ranked in the top three for civil, custody and protection from abuse filings when compared to similar counties in the last five years. It also had the largest number of medical malpractice cases in that five-year comparison and ranked fifth in the number of criminal cases.

“Justice delayed is justice denied. We want the growing population of Lehigh County to be able to access the courts and obtain justice without delays. Adding an additional judge to the court is a proactive necessity,” state Rep. Josh Siegel said.

The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners also supported the addition of an 11th judge.