Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Blair County Judge Timothy M. Sullivan points out his active grandchildren to court liaison Rosi Weitzel and other guests at his retirement party in the commissions meeting room at the courthouse on Friday afternoon.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Judge Timothy M. Sullivan says he has no regrets when he looks back at his decision to run in 2005 for a county judicial seat.

At the time, he was a 45-year-old private practice attorney who got the voters’ support for one of two vacant judicial seats. Ten years later when he was 55 years old, the voters opted to retain him for 10 more years.

Now 63 years old, Sullivan is retiring at the end of this month from his full-time duties — three years before his current term ends in 2025. But he’s pledging to work as a senior judge and commit 10 days a month to Blair County, the maximum permitted.

“I’m retaining all my civil cases, about 138 of those,” Sullivan said recently in his courthouse chambers. “And I’m retaining some of my criminal cases, too.”

The change to senior status, the judge said, offers the opportunity for more control over his schedule, in a way that he expects will allow him to have more time to travel and to spend with family.

“My wife and I, we are now empty-nesters” Sullivan said. “We have four children, five grandchildren and there’s a lot of places we’d like to visit while we still can.”

‘A good judge’

Back in 2005 when he ran for judge, Sullivan said he knew what he was getting into.

“In private practice, I handled a variety of cases, different areas of the law, so I felt ready for the job in that regard,” he said. “Also, at my former law firm of Sullivan, Forr, Stokan and Huff, my senior law partners were very good mentors.”

Former partner R. Thomas Forr said recently he doesn’t recall providing any sage advice to his colleague when he put on the judicial black robe, because Sullivan didn’t need any.

“He knew what to do from Day 1,” Forr said recently. “He was a good attorney, a good family man and he’s a good judge.”

Sullivan recalled that during his first month on the job, then court administrator Mike Reighard gave him a light schedule, prompting Sullivan to ask for more work.

“Because I had a varied background as a private attorney, I was very comfortable with whatever kind of case I was assigned,” he said.

In the months and years to come, Sullivan’s schedule filled up with every kind of criminal and civil case that goes through the county system, including capital murder cases, homicides, drug trafficking, property disputes, juvenile offenses, custody battles, divorces, drunken driving cases and adoptions.

“Adoptions are the one of the few things we do where everyone in the courtroom is happy,” Sullivan said.

President Judge Elizabeth Doyle said she has no memory of Sullivan ever turning down a case.

“In a small five-judge county like Blair County, everyone on the bench is a ‘judge-of-all-trades,’ and Judge Sullivan has certainly been exemplary at this,” Doyle said. “He is a constant cheerful volunteer. His gradious, gentlemanly demeanor has always reflected extremely well on the Blair County bench.”

In criminal court

Among Sullivan’s earlier criminal cases was the jury trial for Sean Louis Allen, a Hollidaysburg man accused of killing Margo “Maggie Davis,” a 19-year-old Penn State Altoona student, in 2009.

Sullivan, who found it difficult in 2010 to seat a Blair County jury for the case, pursued permission to head to York County for selection of jurors who then came to Blair County for the high profile trial.

After Allen was convicted of first- and second-degree murder, Sullivan imposed concurrent life sentences.

And when Allen’s case underwent the scrutiny of the appellate process, Sullivan’s trial rulings, as well as both of Allen’s sentences, were upheld.

More recently, Sullivan imposed what may be the longest sentence in Pennsylvania for an Altoona’s man’s extensive collection of child pornography photos and videos.

After presiding over an August trial where everyone in the courtroom saw 31-year-old Jeffrey Scott Snaman’s collection, Sullivan handed down consecutive sentences, adding up to 56 years to 112 years’ incarceration.

It’s people like Snaman, Sullivan said in dictating the sentencing order, “who provide a market for this kind of filth.”

First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith, who asked for the lengthy sentence, said Sullivan’s decision was justified.

“There should be a sentence like this for the kind of images he possessed and the amount,” she said.

Defense attorney Robert Donaldson, who described 56 years as far too many, is expected to pursue appeals on Snaman’s behalf with the state Superior Court.

‘Rewarding work’

Sullivan’s work as a judge also gave him the opportunity to create and manage the county’s Family Treatment Court for 14 years, similar to the county’s Drug Court program that Sullivan took over five years ago when he succeeded the retiring Judge Jolene Grubb Kopriva.

In both courts, the judge and other county employees focus their attention on efforts to direct participants away from illegal drug use and related crimes affecting them and their family members.

“Over time, I’ve been able to see people invest in these programs, invest in their recoveries and become healthy, sober and productive members of society,” Sullivan said. “Seeing them restore relationships with their family and loved ones, that’s extremely rewarding work.”

Doyle named Sullivan’s leadership of the county’s specialty courts as one of his outstanding accomplishments.

“His team is especially proud,” the president judge said, “of the number of babies born drug-free and children reunited with families as a result of the programs.”

Senior Judge Daniel J. Milliron also spoke of Sullivan’s success with the specialty courts.

“His dedication to Drug Court,” Milliron said, “has saved countless lives and made the community safer.”

Scott Shultz, the county’s specialty courts coordinator, saw Sullivan embrace Drug Court after Kopriva retired.

“He did have big shoes to fill when Judge Kopriva left, but he slid right into them,” Schultz said. “He showed a lot of compassion for the individuals in those programs, looked at the cases individually and showed great leadership skills.”

In January, Judge Jackie Bernard will succeed Sullivan in presiding over Drug Court.

‘Give credit to the Lord’

Sullivan said that before he enrolled at the Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware, he was an assistant sports information director at the University of Delaware, with his eye on becoming an athletic director at a college or university.

“Early in my legal career, I questioned whether the decision to go to law school had been a good one,” the judge said. “But I’ll give credit to the Lord, just to show that the Lord’s plan was better than my own. And now as I look back, I feel very fortunate to have followed the career path I did.”

The work, however, could be mentally exhausting, he admitted, especially when presiding over high profile cases that involve a lot of legal research.

“As a judge, you’re charged with the duty of making decisions and you want to do your best to make a fair decision,” the judge said. “So when you get difficult cases, you sometimes wrestle with the facts and whether the decision you’re making is the right decision and the best decision.”

Milliron offered no doubt about Sullivan’s ability and described Sullivan as the best judge he has encountered at any level.

“Being a really good judge is more difficult than many understand,” Milliron said. “Judge Sullivan’s dedication and commitment to the responsibilities of fairness and hard work are among the finest I have witnessed. He achieved the balance of empathy and accountability in dealing with those who came before him.”

In December, when Sullivan presided over the last review of his pending criminal court cases, most of those cases were diverted to Doyle, Bernard and fellow judge Wade A. Kagarise.

Judge Ilissa Zimmerman, appointed mid-year to fill the full-time judicial seat created by Milliron’s transition to senior status, is expected to continue a schedule filled mostly with custody, divorce and related cases.

Doyle, who praises Sullivan for a job well done, also expresses gratitude for his forthcoming role.

“We are very happy that Judge Sullivan will be giving his time extensively to the county in 2023 as a senior judge,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.