The new year will bring many changes to the Clarion County court system.
The biggest change will occur Friday when Sara Seidle-Patton will take her oath of office as the new county judge.
Seidle-Patton will be the first woman to take the bench in Clarion County. She replaces James Arner, who will become a senior judge.
There will also be a new district attorney in the county as former assistant DA Drew Welsh will replace Mark Aaron.
The DA’s office will remain the same, at least for the time being. While county maintenance crews are remodeling the new office at 514 Liberty St., the county will continue to lease the current building at 502 Liberty from Aaron for $2,000 a month.
The county purchased the 3,000-square foot property at 514 Liberty for $155,000. The building will also be the home of the CNET drug task force and the county detectives.
The move is expected to cost the county about $20,000.
The county will also need to rebuild the public defender’s office as current public defender Erich Spessard submitted his “intent to resign” to county commissioners on Thursday.
Another vacancy was created when assistant public defender Cory Ricci notified the commissioners of the termination of his contract effective Tuesday.
In a related matter, commissioners appointed attorney Robbie Taylor to act as the public defender’s conflict attorney effective Wednesday.
There will also be a change at District Court 18-3-03 in Knox as Jarah Heeter will replace Amy Long Turk, who did not seek re-election.
Clarion County public officials will take their oath of office at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6, at the courthouse.