Senate confirms Toothman pick
After a swearing in ceremony at noon on July 10, Waynesburg attorney Farley Toothman will step into the shoes of his late father as a Common Pleas Court judge in Greene County. Toothman learned about the swearing-in schedule Wednesday, a day after the state Senate unanimously voted to confirm his nomination to the bench. The full Senate confirmed Toothman just hours after the Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to refer his nomination to the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, which sent the matter to the Senate floor for a vote Tuesday afternoon.
Toothman will become the second person to fill the second judge’s position since it was created. The county had one Common Pleas Court judge until William R. Nalitz was elected as the second judge in 1998.
A vacancy opened on the bench when H. Terry Grimes retired as the president judge in January after 23 years on the job. Grimes now serves as a part-time senior judge.
Nalitz became the president judge and, in March, Gov. Edward Rendell nominated Toothman to fill the vacancy.
Toothman’s appointment runs through January 2012, but he said he plans to run for a full 10-year term in the 2011 municipal elections.
“This is a career issue,” Toothman said.
It also is a family issue.
Toothman’s late father, Glenn Toothman Jr., was the county’s lone judge for 20 years before he retired. Grimes succeeded him in 1985.
“I’m surely standing on the shoulders of my father,” Toothman said.
He added that he wishes his father were still alive to watch him become a judge.
“I feel that he is (watching),” Toothman said.
Since Father’s Day, he said he has been reading his father’s book “From the Bench and Back,” in which he talks about his life and experiences as a judge.
His father and brother, Glenn Toothman III, are former district attorneys in Greene County.
Along with his private practice in Waynesburg, Toothman is the solicitor for the county, Waynesburg Borough and Greensboro Borough.
He served two terms as a county commissioner – from 1996 to 2003.
As a judge, he said he plans to follow the examples of Nalitz and Grimes.
“I hope to continue the fine traditions set by President Judge (William) Nalitz and Senior Judge (H. Terry) Grimes,” Toothman said. “I bring experience and the understanding of history and the integrity of the court, and respect for the law of the land.”
He said he would uphold the public trust “firmly and fairly.”
The Senate confirmation came much faster than he said he anticipated.
Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, introduced Toothman to the Judiciary Committee and spoke in support of his nomination.
Toothman said he was getting ready to leave Harrisburg a few hours after he finished answering questions from committee members when Stout called from his cell phone and let him listen to Senate’s confirmation vote live.
A graduate of Waynesburg University and Duquesne University’s School of Law, Toothman and his wife of 23 years, Ingrid, have four children and reside in Waynesburg.
The county two other solicitors, David Pollock and David Hook, who the commissioners retained for litigation purposes, will replace Toothman until the commissioners decide who to hire, said Pam Snyder, chairman of board of commissioners.
“If he’s half as good a judge as he was a solicitor for the county for six years, the citizens of Greene County will be served very well,” Snyder said. Toothman