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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Retirement of State Court Administrator Thomas B. Darr
News Article
July 24, 2019
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Thomas G. Saylor today announced the retirement of Court Administrator of Pennsylvania Tom Darr, who will depart at year’s end after 30 years of service.
The state court administrator position is prescribed in the state constitution and heads the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC).
Darr will be succeeded by Geoff Moulton who currently serves as Counsel to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
“I would like to express the collective appreciation of the Unified Judicial System for Tom’s over 30 years of dedicated service,” said Chief Justice Saylor. "He has served as Pennsylvania’s top judicial administrator with professionalism and integrity and he will leave at year end with the thanks of the Court and judicial branch for a job well done.
"Geoff Moulton's academic and legal background, coupled with his broad range of experience in the executive, legislative and judicial branches render him well qualified to assume the responsibilities of Pennsylvania state court administrator."
Moulton has devoted the bulk of his career to public service. Before taking his current position in 2018, he served as an appointed judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, as first deputy general counsel to Governor Wolf, and as an assistant United States Attorney in Philadelphia.
In addition, he has been chief counsel to a United States Senator, taught for many years at Widener University Delaware Law School, and represented media clients in private practice. Following his graduation from Columbia Law School in 1984, he served as a law clerk on both the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Darr began his tenure with the AOPC as director of legislative affairs and communications, advancing to director of administration soon thereafter. He was appointed deputy state court administrator in 1996 and state court administrator in 2015.
“It has been a privilege to serve in two branches of Pennsylvania state government for more than 38 years,” Darr said. “As is true with everyone who comes to Harrisburg with a new governor, the adrenalin to ‘do good’ is high. That was true for me in 1979 and has been a guiding principle through my much longer tenure with Pennsylvania’s court system.
“I have been deeply gratified to work for six chief justices and so many Supreme Court justices whose dedication to the law and to public service has been inspiring and also an education for this non-lawyer. Their respective commitments to public service have been unequivocal in my experience.
“My professional interest from the start has been to encourage collaboration within the court system and between branches of government, as important a goal now as ever but one that is increasingly complex to achieve. It’s a great time for Geoff Moulton to use his considerable and diverse experience to take up that challenge for the Supreme Court and with the assistance of a very capable AOPC staff.”
Among his other significant contributions, during Darr’s time with the AOPC he focused on the development of the Judicial Computer System (JCS) by helping to encourage the legislature and successive governors to provide the JCS with financial support.
Darr also worked with representatives of the Judiciary’s sister branches of government to create Pennsylvania’s Interbranch Commision on Juvenile Justice, in the aftermath of illegal actions by two judges in Luzerne County.
EDITOR’S NOTE – Please see attached bios for Thomas B. Darr and Geoff Moulton
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Media contact: Stacey Witalec, 717-877-2997