MIDDLEBURG — After two decades presiding on the bench in Snyder County Court, President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr. will soon have a change of scenery.

On Jan. 4, he’ll move to the Union County Courthouse in Lewisburg while Judge-elect Michael H. Sholley takes over Woelfel’s chambers in the Middleburg courthouse.

“Now I have the opportunity for a change. Variety is the spice of life,” said Woelfel who added he has no agenda in making the move.

Snyder and Union counties comprise the 17th judicial district over which he’ll remain president judge.

The courts in the two counties operate differently, but Woelfel said he won’t make any immediate changes or decide if uniformity is necessary until he has a chance to experience how Union County Court runs.

Sholley, current Snyder County district attorney, was elected Tuesday to the 10-year seat presently held by Judge Louise O. Knight in Union County.

“I was excited about going to Union County and really like the people,” Sholley said of the assumption he had during the campaign that he’d serve in that county if he won the seat.

Though having worked as a police officer in Lewisburg and served as district attorney for 10 years in Snyder County, Sholley said he’s looking forward to working in either county.

Knight, who is retiring at the end of this year, will preside as senior judge and work in Union County Courthouse’s second smaller courtroom, Woelfel said.

“We intend to make much more use of the mini-courtroom in Union County when we have a senior judge available to us on a regular basis,” he said, adding that he’s also working to set up a mini-courtroom in Snyder County as well.

A senior judge may work in a judicial district for up to 13 days a month without approval from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Woelfel said.

However, state budget cuts will likely reduce the number of days since the senior judge is paid fully by the state.

Despite moving chambers, Woelfel, whose second 10-year term as judge expires in 2011, will still be a fairly regular fixture at the Snyder County Courthouse.

Because Sholley will not be able to oversee as judge any criminal cases that were being prosecuted during the 10 years he’s served as a county prosecutor, Woelfel will handle those cases.

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