Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan on Wednesday talks at hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee to become a federal judge.

WASHINGTON D.C. — Surrounded by family and quizzed by senators, Butler County Judge Marilyn Horan on Wednesday completed the confirmation hearing necessary to become a federal judge.

Held at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the hourlong session included testimony from five court nominees.

Horan, a Butler County Court judge since 1996, was nominated in July by President Obama to fill a vacancy on the federal bench in Pittsburgh.

During Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Horan was introduced by her home senators, Pat Toomey and Bob Casey Jr.

Then, each nominee was given a chance to thank supporters. Horan noted that her husband, Joseph Caparosa, her four children and three of her four siblings were in attendance as well as some friends.

Horan gave special thanks to her mother, now deceased, who raised her family after her father’s death.

“She was born way ahead of her time,” Horan said.

After the introductions, members of the committee asked questions of the nominees.

Horan was asked several questions, including her opinion of the jury system, if she could uphold the death penalty and why she made volunteering a priority.

Horan said she would uphold the death penalty as the law of the land and that she supports a jury system.

She said making volunteering a priority wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision.

She called her community service a “natural evolution” of being a judge. Crediting the local bar association for cooperation, Horan said when there’s a need in the community she starts working to make a difference, and she would continue to maintain that philosophy in the federal court.

She’s 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.

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

She worked at the Butler law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach & Horan for more than 17 years before becoming the county’s first female judge.

The Judiciary Committee now will vote on whether to send her nomination to the full Senate. If the committee does that, it can be with a favorable recommendation, an unfavorable recommendation or no recommendation at all.

The Senate debates a nominee until a senator asks for unanimous consent to end debate and to move to a vote. If consent is granted, the Senate votes on the nominee.

There’s no timetable for when the Senate will vote on Horan’s nomination.