Judge Maureen Skerda

Judge Maureen A. Skerda announced on Monday she is not seeking retention.

Skerda was elected as the first female Judge of the 37th Judicial District and began her term of office in January 2006. Skerda became the 26th President Judge on Jan. 1, 2010.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the 37th Judicial District,” she said Monday in a press release. She also noted she will continue in her role as judge through the end of her term.

Skerda practiced law in Warren and Forest counties since 1988 as a staff attorney at Northwest Legal Services, Assistant District Attorney and served as Court Hearing Officer from 1992 through 2005. Prior to assuming the bench, she served for 17 years as a Master in Divorce and Equitable Distribution, Support matters, juvenile dependency and delinquency matters.

She is a graduate of Rosary High School, Aurora, Ill., Illinois Wesleyan University, and the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Skerda is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Pennsylvania State Conference of Trial Judges, and the Juvenile Court Judges Commission. She participates in the Regional and Local Leadership Roundtables and the Autism Committee on Juvenile Dependency issues. Judge Skerda has also initiated a Local Treatment Court.

She is active in her community and has served on a number of boards including the MH/MR, ATOD, and CYS advisory boards, Economic Opportunity Council, Warren General Hospital’s Hospice Ethics Committee, and the Struthers Library Theatre.

Skerda is married and her family includes her stepson, daughter-in-law and one grandson.