Bedford, Tyrone judges slated to take over Aigner’s position

Prestia, Mellott to cover vacant post

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Magisterial District Judges Carmine Prestia Jr. and Wendy Mellott are slated to take over Paula Aigner's judicial post in January, when she is sworn in as a judge of the Blair County Court of Common Pleas.

Aigner was first appointed as the magisterial district judge in 2004. The district she presided over includes Hollidaysburg, Duncansville, Newry and Williamsburg boroughs, as well as Blair, Catharine, Frankstown and Woodbury townships.

Aigner confirmed Tuesday morning that Prestia and Mellott would work out of her old office two days a week each.

Mellott is a current magistrate in Bedford County, while Prestia has been overseeing the seat left vacant in Tyrone by Fred Miller's election to the court of common pleas in 2023.

Miller, however, became ill in 2024 during his first year in office and died, creating one of the two vacancies on the five-member common pleas judicial bench. The second judicial vacancy developed from the November 2023 election, when then-President Judge Elizabeth Doyle lost her bid for retention following an anti-retention campaign.

Kevin Stoltz won his bid to take over Miller's magisterial district judge post earlier this month, freeing Prestia to assist Mellott in Hollidaysburg come January.

"It was very generous of Carmine to step forward," Aigner said.

President Judge Wade A. Kagarise wrote in an email that Pennsylvania law dictates the nomination of an individual for any vacancy at the magistrate level rests with the governor, with a confirmation of the nominee required by a majority of the state senate, and that neither a county nor court needs to request the governor and senate "carry out their constitutional duties."

"The judges of Blair County issued formal requests to the governor and our state Senator Judy Ward throughout 2024 and 2025 requesting the appointment of two court of common plea judges and one magisterial district judge," Kagarise wrote. "This request provided information on the impact of not filling the vacancies. Whether or not the court will provide such a letter when the vacancy occurs in 2026 will be decided in early 2026 after consultation with the judges and magisterial district judges of this court."

Aigner will be joined by state Rep. Lou Schmitt of Altoona as a new judge in the court of common pleas early next year.