District Judge Carolyn Saldari Bengel has announced her re-election bid.
Bengel’s court covers Brackenridge, East Deer, Fawn, Harrison and Tarentum.
A resident of Harrison, Bengel is a full-time judge who said she “has always focused on the need for a fair judicial system that truly represents the people of our community.”
She first won election to the post 30 years ago in 1993.
Bengel earned an undergraduate degree from Saint Vincent College and her J.D. from the University of Toledo College of Law. She previously served as an assistant public defender for Allegheny County.
Bengel said she helped create and support programs that help the area’s youth. They include the Red Ribbon Drug Awareness Campaign and the Everyday Hero Program, both of which are practiced at Highlands School District.
Bengel said she was one of the first District Justices outside the city of Pittsburgh to institute a domestic violence program in her court.
“There is no substitute for experience,” she said.
In 2018, Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer nominated Bengel to the minor judiciary education board.
