By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN, Staff Writer

WEST CHESTER — Voters on Tuesday will be able to cast ballots for three members of the Common Pleas Court from Chester County, although only one is in a competitive race.

Judges Paula Francisco Ott, William Mahon and Robert Shenkin will all be listed on the ballot.

Ott is seeking one of four vacancies on the state Superior Court. She was selected by the state Republican Committee to appear on the ballot following the retirement of anoher Superior Court jurist following the May primary.

In addition, Judges William P. Mahon and Robert J. Shenkin are running for retention to the Common Pleas bench. Mahon is seeking his second full term after first being elected in 1999, while Shenkin is seeking a third term since his 1989 election.

All three judges were given "qualified" ratings in the Chester County Bar Association's October plebiscite. Ott was the only one of the eight candidates for the Superior Court to receive the nod, although the other seven candidates did not receive sufficient ballots to rate them according to the bar association's rules.

Ott was elected Common Pleas Court judge in November 1991 and retained in November 2001 for a second 10-year term. She was elected to a five-year term as president judge commencing Jan. 12, 2005. She had served as supervising judge in county Juvenile Court until 2005.

Ott, 59, is the first woman elected to the Common Pleas bench in Chester County and the first to serve as its president judge.

In July 2001, Ott was appointed to the joint state government commission's advisory committee on decedents' estates laws. She is a past president of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges. Also, she has served as a member of the state Orphans Court Procedural Rules Committee; the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness; and on the Task Force for the National Center for Juvenile Justice.

Her experience overseeing criminal court includes two death-penalty murder trials. And her experience as the county's presiding judge in orphans court, which oversees wills, estates and trusts, would be unique to the appeals court, she said.

"No one on the Superior Court now has significant background in Orphans Court matters," she said. "I know that the (other) judges in Orphans Court across the state talk about that. When these sorts of cases are appealed, the results sometimes are not what you would expect. That's because (those deciding them) don't have the experience."

And with an aging population of baby boomers across the state, Ott said, her legal experience will become more important.

She was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Unionville High School. She holds degrees from the University of Delaware and Temple Law School. She was a member of the law firm of Gawthrop, Greenwood & Halstead in West Chester before her election as judge.

Shenkin, 65, handles a docket of primarily civil cases on the court. He is seeking another 10-year-term on the bench, but will reach the state's mandatory retirement age of 70 before the end of his term, at which time he would be eligible to take senior status on the bench.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and Duke University School of Law, he was a former partner with the West Chester law firm of MacElree, Harvey. He served as a township supervisor in West Whiteland before taking a seat on the bench.

Mahon, 56, is the supervising judge for the county's so-called treatment courts, including Drug Court, Mental Health Court and Recovery Court, but he also handles a criminal and civil trial list.

He was a former assistant district attorney and member of the West Chester law firm of Lamb, Windle & McErlane. Born in Glen Cove, N.Y., he holds degrees from Fordham University and the University of Dayton Law School.

Candidates seeking retention do not face opponents; voters are asked whether they should continue to serve on the bench or not. Both Shenkin and Mahon were rated "qualified" by the county bar association.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan, send an e-mail to mrellahan@dailylocal.com.