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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The Belmont County Courthouse welcomed a new common pleas judge Friday with the swearing in of Chris Berhalter.
Berhalter, who has served as Belmont County Northern Division judge since 2014, was appointed to the common pleas position following the retirement of Frank Fregiato.
Berhalter's fellow common pleas judge, John Vavra, and Al Davies, juvenile and probate judge, administered his oath of office. Friends, family and legal colleagues attended the ceremony and luncheon that followed.
"I look forward to working with both of you," he told Vavra and Davies. "Thank you all for being here today. I'm very honored for the support of so many of you that are here today, and I'm very honored and humbled to begin this new position, where I get to continue to serve."
He said the decision to seek the common pleas judgeship was not an easy one.
"I enjoyed what we were doing in Northern, what we were accomplishing, and of course I had a fantastic and outstanding staff at Northern that helped me do my job and do it well. But as I gave it serious thought it was clear that it was time to take what we were doing in Northern to the court of common pleas and accept the new challenges."
Berhalter is no stranger to the courthouse, having spent eight years in private legal practice and serving as Belmont County's prosecutor before taking a seat behind the bench. Berhalter said he hopes he can fill Fregiato's shoes.
"As I start here today, I feel like that young, first-round draft pick who has to replace the retiring hall of fame quarterback. You're going to find comparing us that we share a lot of the same values of honesty, integrity, fairness, desire to seek the truth; however, our styles and presentation may be a little bit different," he said.
He credited his family, including his mother Victoria and wife Vanessa, for their support.
Berhalter said he has gotten accustomed to the court and status of cases. Visiting judges have handled the caseload since Fregiato went on medical leave in March.
"I'm fortunate to be walking into a situation where the visiting judges have done an outstanding job keeping the docket in line and in control. We're actually starting today, my first official day, and I do look forward to the new challenges that lie ahead," he said.
Berhalter said he also looks forward to continuing programs such as the drug court, which offers counseling options to low-level drug offenders and a chance to clean their records.
"Drug court will continue. That was my plan from the very beginning. But to enlarge or add any other programs, I'm going to actually have to get my feet wet in the job to see if anything should be added," he said.