Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan was appointed to her current post in 1996.

WASHINGTON — Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan could soon be a federal judge.

President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Horan to take a vacancy on the federal bench. Obama also nominated judges Susan Baxter, Robert Colville and John Younge to take other federal positions in the state.

Horan, 60, of Butler is the first female judge in county history. She could not be reached this morning for comment.

Horan was appointed to her current post in 1996 by Gov. Tom Ridge to fill a slot created by retirement. She was re-elected to a 10-year term in 1998.

If her appointment is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Horan would serve on the bench in Pittsburgh.

County President Judge Thomas Doerr said Horan’s nomination is a compliment of her excellence on the bench. He said it is also a compliment of the strength of the county’s bench, saying that it is not common for these nominees to come from small and medium sized counties.

“I’m very happy for Judge Horan,” Doerr said.

Horan has handled primarily civil litigation over the past several years, which Doerr said is good training for the federal bench.

“There is a very high civil caseload in federal court,” Doerr said.

Horan has been active in many community programs, including the Community Health Clinic of Butler, the YMCA, the American Cancer Society, the Community Health Assessment Policy Council, the Butler County Head Start Policy Council and the Center for Community Resources.

In 2014, Horan was selected by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession as the Anne X. Alpern Award winner. The award is presented annually to a woman who demonstrates excellence in the legal profession and makes a significant impact on women in law.

She graduated from Butler High School in 1972 and then went to Penn State University to study criminology. She eventually got her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979.

After graduating, she worked at the Butler law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach & Horan for more than 17 years before becoming a judge.

Horan is married to Joseph Caparosa, and they have four adult children.

Tom Holman, deputy court administrator for the county, said that court administration has not received any information on the nomination.

In cases when county judges resign from the bench, Holman said one of three actions can happen: the seat could remain vacant until the next court election in 2017, the state Supreme Court could appoint a senior or visiting judge to fill the seat part-time until the 2017 election or the state Supreme Court could appoint someone to be a permanent judge on the seat until the 2017 election.

Judge Maurice Cohill, a senior district judge for the federal court in Pittsburgh, lives in Slippery Rock.

Doerr said as far as he knows, the county has not had any other federal judges.

Marilyn Horan