After more than two decades of practicing law, Butler attorney Patrick W. Casey is looking to shift gears.

Casey is the latest candidate to announce his bid for the district judgeship that covers Butler. That post will be vacated by retiring District Judge Pete Shaffer.

“In more than 25 years of the practice of law,” Casey said, “I have the broadest range of legal experience of the candidates in this election.”

Two other candidates also announced their candidacies for the office.

The 58-year-old Casey is a Republican but he plans to seek both the GOP and Democratic nominations in the May 19 primary. District judge candidates can cross file in the primary.

District judges are elected to six-year terms and each serves a geographic area.

“I have tried both civil and criminal jury and bench trials to conclusion,” he said. “I have formal training in civil case mediation and arbitration.”

He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Among his civic activities, he lists being a board member and two-term past president of the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Center in Butler and a former board member of The Arc of Butler County.

Casey graduated Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh in 1974 and earned an undergraduate degree at Duquesne University in 1979. He received his juris doctor from Duquesne University Law School in 1986.

He and his wife, Donna, live in downtown Butler.