Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is one of Pennsylvania's two intermediate appellate courts. The Commonwealth Court's headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with jurisdiction over administrative and civil public law. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is the other intermediate appellate court in the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System, having jurisdiction over criminal and private civil cases.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Established	1968
Jurisdiction	Pennsylvania cases which involve decisions of governmental agencies; public sector legal questions; actions to which the Commonwealth is a party other than criminal cases; or actions to which a not-for-profit, private corporation is a party.
Location	Harrisburg (headquarters) Philadelphia Pittsburgh
Composition method	Statewide partisan election with possible retention at term expiration. Vacancies are filled via appointment by the Governor.
Authorised by	Penn. Const. Art. V § 3 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 561-64
Appeals to	Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeals from	Court of Common Pleas Superior Court
Judge term length	10 years
Number of positions	9
Website	Commonwealth Court
President Judge
Currently	Renée Cohn Jubelirer
Since	January 7, 2022[1][2]

Philadelphia

Harrisburg

Pittsburgh

Court locations

The jurisdiction of the nine-judge Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas involving public sector legal questions, government regulation, and certain matters involving Not-for-profit organizations. The Commonwealth Court also functions as a trial court in some civil actions by or against the Commonwealth government and cases regarding statewide elections. (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 761–764).

Article V, section 4 of the 1968 Pennsylvania Constitution created the Commonwealth Court. Acts enacted in 1970 set up the court. Judges are elected to 10-year terms, and must retire at the age of 75.

The Commonwealth Court publishes its precedential opinions in the Atlantic Reporter 3d series. From 1970 to 1995, the court maintained an official reporter, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports, volumes 1–168 (1970–1995). The Court's precedential and non-precedential ("unreported") opinions are posted online.

Appeals from Commonwealth Court decisions go to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Judges

Judge[3]	Born	Joined[1]	Term ends	Mandatory retirement[a]	Party affiliation	Law school
Renée Cohn Jubelirer, President Judge	(1957-05-25) May 25, 1957 (age 68)	January 7, 2002[b]	2031	2032	Republican	Northwestern
Patricia A. McCullough	(1956-11-15) November 15, 1956 (age 68)	January 4, 2010	2029	2031	Republican	Pittsburgh
Anne E. Covey	(1959-11-04) November 4, 1959 (age 65)	January 2, 2012	2031	2034	Republican	Widener
Michael H. Wojcik	(1964-09-24) September 24, 1964 (age 60)	January 4, 2016	2025	2039	Democratic	Pittsburgh
Christine Fizzano Cannon	(1969-10-08) October 8, 1969 (age 55)	January 1, 2018	2027	2044	Republican	Widener
Lori A. Dumas	(1967-12-02) December 2, 1967 (age 57)	January 3, 2022	2031	2042	Democratic	North Carolina Central
Stacy Wallace	(1979-07-18) July 18, 1979 (age 46)	January 3, 2022	2031	2054	Republican	Duquesne
Matthew S. Wolf	1968 (age 56–57)	January 1, 2024	2033	2043	Democratic	Loyola New Orleans
Vacant

1. Judges must retire by the last day (December 31) of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 75.^[4]
2. Became President Judge on January 7, 2022.

Senior judges

Judge[3]	Born	Joined	Assumed senior status	Party affiliation	Law school
Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter, President Judge Emerita	(1947-02-19) February 19, 1947 (age 78)	January 9, 1996	January 31, 2016	Republican	Pittsburgh
Mary Hannah Leavitt, President Judge Emerita	(1947-03-17) March 17, 1947 (age 78)	January 7, 2002	January 3, 2022	Republican	Dickinson

See also

• Pennsylvania portal