‘It is a promise’: Newly elected Chester County officials and judges take their oaths of office

A new slate of Chester County elected officials are taking office after they were officially sworn in at a ceremony over the weekend surrounded by friends and family.

Four officials in the county’s row offices — clerk of courts, controller, coroner, prothonotary — and three magisterial district justices took their oath of office Saturday at the Chester County Justice Center.

“I’ve found, in this line of work, when you’re finding people to run for office, it’s quite difficult to get the good people to do it,” county commissioner Josh Maxwell told the incoming officials.

“It sometimes attracts maybe the wrong people. I’m so excited to be here today because we have a lot of good people who rose their hands — maybe a higher bar than we typically have in the county,” Maxwell said.

Taking office was an entirely Democratic slate of officials, upholding the political shift in the county that began in 2019, when Maxwell and Commissioner Marian Moskowitz were the first Democrats in history elected to their seats. Democrats saw wins again in 2023, with Maxwell and Moskowitz winning reelection.

The row offices oversee essential government services residents regularly interface with — from maintaining criminal and civil court records, to monitoring the county’s financial contracts, to investigating the circumstances of sudden deaths — and operate under four-year terms.

Magisterial district judges handle traffic cases and minor criminal and civil cases, for six-year terms.

The slate of row officials includes:

And the county’s new magisterial judges are:

“Those of you taking the oaths … are amongst the people who will help Chester County continue to be a place where so many want to live, work, and raise their family,” Moskowitz told the officials.

During the ceremony, the judges donned their robes and the row officers took their oaths with their partners, parents, and children nearby. Dozens of supporters lined the benches in the courtroom, and elected officials received a standing ovation when all the oaths had been administered. (Those supporters got a nod, too, with Maxwell noting that public service comes with long hours, personal sacrifice, and difficult decisions. “No one serves alone,” he said.)

The oaths of office were administered by Commonwealth Court Judge Stella Tsai, Court of Common Pleas Judge Alita Rovito, and Magisterial District Judge Nancy Gill.

“The oath you have taken is more than a formality, it is a promise to the people of Chester County, a promise to uphold the law, to treat every resident with fairness and dignity, and to carry out your duties with independence, integrity and care,” Maxwell said.

“Those values matter deeply, especially at the local level, where government has its most direct impact on all our lives,” Maxwell said.

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