Otter v. Cortes

OPINION

Justice GREENSPAN.

On April 7, 2009, we issued a per curiam order affirming the Commonwealth Court’s decision to deny Appellant’s petition for writ of mandamus. Our reasons follow.

On February 11, 2009, then-President Judge David W. Heckler resigned from the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas.1 Judge Heckler’s term of office was not due to expire until December 31, 2017 and he would not have reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2009. The vacancy created by Judge Heckler’s early resigna*1284tion was therefore unanticipated. Pedro A. Cortes, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of…