Former prosecutor, defender running for judge
Slippery Rock resident Russ Karl wants to bring his three decades worth of experience in front of the bench to work on the other side of it.
“I've seen it from all sides of the bench,” Karl said.
Karl seeks the Slippery Rock district judge position left vacant by District Judge William O'Donnell, who did not seek re-election.
The job has a six-year term and serves the boroughs of Slippery Rock, Portersville, Prospect, West Liberty and Harrisville as well as the townships of Slippery Rock, Worth, Brady, Franklin, Mercer and Muddy Creek.
Karl received his bachelor's degree in 1985 from Edinboro University in psychology and English, before attending graduate school at Ohio Northern University Law School, where he received his doctorate in 1989.
After starting in the Erie area, Karl began working in Butler County about 20 years ago. He commuted from Erie for about eight years, while some of his children finished school in Erie. His family moved to their current home in Slippery Rock about 13 years ago.
Karl spent more than 30 years working as a prosecutor, public defender and private attorney.
He gave some of his time as an educator, having served as a former professor at Penn-State Dubois.
Karl retired as an assistant district attorney for Butler County in 2020.
In the past, he had also served as director of the Adult and Juvenile Probation and director of Children and Youth Services.
This is the second time Karl has run for the district judge position, having previously done so in 2009.
“I've basically wanted to be an attorney since the third grade,” Karl said. “I've wanted to be a district judge for the last 12 years.”
He was a former school board member for Brookville Area School District and a former head of Butler County Adopt-A-School.
Karl currently serves as the borough council's president. He said he will not seek reelection to that post to ensure that his entire focus would remain solely on the judge's race, and if elected, the position.
“I plan to come with a balanced perspective,” Karl said.
He said because of his experience, background and history, he wants to make sure everyone from police to defendants are being treated fairly.
“I want to make sure people can be confident their rights will be protected,” Karl said.
For more information about Russ Karl's campaign, visit his Facebook or Instagram pages or use #vote4russkarl on those platforms to view his endorsements.
Karl is the husband of Laurie Karl, with whom he shares eight children and 12 grandchildren.
