On the day county commissioners honored him for his work as president judge, Lackawanna County Judge Chester T. Harhut said he could decide as early as today that he is taking senior status.

Senior judges are allowed to work only part time, meaning the county bench would have an opening for a full-time judge that could be filled in the upcoming election.

Judge Harhut said he will probably announce his decision this morning after discussing the matter with his family.

The judge, first appointed to the county bench by Gov. Robert Casey on April 30, 1987, will turn 70 years old in February 2012, and 70 is when all judges must step down from full-time duty. That means he is only a year away from when he could assume senior status.

But Judge Harhut said he fears the county could lose a judgeship if he waits until next year because the state Supreme Court is looking to eliminate judgeships to save money. Announcing earlier would allow the election to replace him to proceed, he said.

"I've been playing with the idea of retirement in my mind for years," Judge Harhut said.

He stepped down as president judge on Jan. 1 after serving in that post since October 2000.

He spoke about taking senior status just after attending what the commissioners billed to him as "a very important meeting."

After he arrived, he learned they wanted to honor him with a proclamation. The proclamation declared Wednesday, Jan. 26, "The Honorable Chester T. Harhut Day" in Lackawanna County for his service in running the county court system.

Reading from the proclamation, Commissioner Mike Washo said Judge Harhut had, as Family Court judge, spearheaded efforts to integrate mental health and drug and alcohol treatment into family disputes, developed the STARS anti-truancy program, helped develop a guidebook to help family court judges deal with abused and neglected children and their families and became "one of the state's foremost proponents of resolving family conflict through alternative dispute resolution."

"When I look at what you've accomplished, I say to myself it's truly remarkable what a person could do after entering a whole new phase of their life after having a very successful legal practice," Mr. Washo said.

Commissioner A.J. Munchak said the judge came to him and former Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro asking for a chance to implement ideas aimed at upgrading county Children and Youth Services.

"And we just gave him full rein on that, and it's developed into one of the premier services for children and youth throughout the state," Mr. Munchak said.

Commissioner Corey O'Brien, whose late uncle Joseph was a close friend of the judge, said the judge is "nationally recognized with respect to specialty courts as an absolute expert." The judge's innovations are becoming a model across the state, he said.

"What you've done is transform the justice system across Pennsylvania," Mr. O'Brien said.

The judge said he appreciated the "over-flattering and unnecessary and just overly generous comments."

He deflected credit to others inside and outside the court system.

"I'll say this as a basic nugget: We all had to work together. It just doesn't happen with one person doing one thing. It takes a community," he said.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com