Kopriva vying for retention as Blair judge
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: October 30, 2007
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“It’s my report card,” she says.
Voters on Nov. 6 will vote “yes” or “no” to grant the 53-year-old judge another term in office.
If the voters say “yes,” she will continue to serve as the county’s top judge, having assumed the position as President Judge upon the retirement of now Senior Judge Thomas G. Peoples two year ago.
If the local voters say “no,” as they have twice in recent years, the judge will be out of office as of January and the governor will appoint a replacement until another election is held.
If retained, Kopriva likely will become the longest serving judge, at 30 years, in county history.
She said voters should judge her on how she has performed, her integrity, preparation, the quality of her opinions, her temperament and her fairness.
Kopriva is aware that there is a statewide effort by a group called PACleanSweep to oust incumbent judges, particularly at the state level, all as part of the unintended consequences of attempts by the governor and the general assembly to boost their own salaries, as well as those of the judges.
Kopriva said her name for retention is at the end of a long list of judges running for statewide offices and she is worried local voters simply will vote “no” on all of them.
She said it is not a good thing to get rid of experienced judges.
Kopriva said she has served 20 years and Judge Hiram Carpenter has served 17 years, but the other three judges on the Blair bench —Daniel J. Milliron, Elizabeth Doyle and Tim Sullivan — are at the front end of their first full terms.
“That would not make common sense,” she said of attempts to remove judges with experience.
Politics aside, Kopriva helped steer the the county judicial ship along the most tumultuous course in court history.
The number of criminal cases have soared in the past 10 years because of infiltration of big city drug problems.
The county has faced more death penalty cases than ever in its history with five in the past two years, and the civil caseload has exploded with medical malpractice and other cases.
Kopriva has launched a drug court for users involved in criminal offenses and has helped spur the development of other “special courts,” including a program for second- and third-offense drunken drivers, a court primarily for mothers and fathers with drug problems, and a juvenile drug court which has yet to get off the ground.
She has instituted management techniques to track cases, to settle civil cases [known as alternative dispute resolution], and to bring dramatic changes to the parole and probation system.
One of her efforts is to be aware of the types of cases being filed.
Recently there has been an unexpected increase of foreclosures and credit card collection lawsuits. She said the county may develop programs to handle those cases.
Her most intense effort has been to reform the parole and probation system.
Kopriva wants to reduce the number of repeat offenders by creating an intake and assessment unit in the parole and probation office to provide individual help to nonviolent criminal offenders in pinpointing and addressing their personal problems.
If they need drug or alcohol treatment, a job or a general educational diploma, the county is prepared to help.
As for violent offenders, they belong in prison, she said, adding that community safety is a primary concern of the justice system.
Kopriva said being a judge these days “takes tremendous energy to keep up with the caseload.”
Even after 20 years, she said she has the energy.
“I think a lot of good things are happening in Blair County,” she said.
She can’t say if Blair will need a sixth judge during the next 10 years.
The creation of judgeships by the general assembly is based on statistics, and Judge Carpenter is the one who is dogging that issue.
But, Kopriva said, the way the caseload is growing, “It looks very probable at this point.”
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
