In an ever-increasing swirl of changes taking place in Butler County’s court system, two judges are once again switching roles, partially reversing a similar caseload exchange that happened at the beginning of the year.

Judge Marilyn Horan is leaving the court for a federal appointment and Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has not filled the soon-to-be-vacant position, leaving a vacuum that the remaining five judges will have to fill until a sixth permanent member is elected or a senior judge is chosen by the Supreme Court to work in the interim.

President Judge Thomas Doerr was reassigned Oct. 1 from criminal court, where he had been since January, to take on Horan’s civil cases.

Judge Timothy McCune has returned to criminal cases. At the beginning of the year, McCune moved from criminal cases to cover the family and juvenile side of the court, which he will retain.

For the moment, the two will continue running the various specialty courts they oversee, with Doerr handling the Behavioral Health Unit for defendants with mental health issues, and McCune on Veterans Court, a specialty court for veterans within the criminal side of the system.

“I’m happy to be going to civil court,” Doerr said Wednesday. “I’ve been elected to serve and I’ll do whatever’s needed of me.”

The realignment comes after Judge William Shaffer was chosen as court administrator, a position that was held by Horan since last year. The two conferred on the assignment changes.

The state Supreme Court originally selected Horan for the administrative post following Doerr’s decision to recuse himself from the duties after county probation officer Crystal Starnes sued him, claiming sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination.

“There’s a lot of stuff scheduled in November that we’re still trying to figure out,” McCune said Wednesday and when asked about the reshuffling, he added, “It’s the most efficient way to use our judicial resources.”

McCune said that he looks forward to a senior judge being added early next year by the Supreme Court to help alleviate the caseload.

“That’s what we hope for,” he said.

Doerr said that they would most likely get a temporary judge to help in November and December. He noted that the judge would most likely be Senior Judge Kenneth Valasek, 69, of Armstrong County. Valasek would most likely work on a part-time basis, Doerr said.

Shaffer also said they would possibly receive a judge in the coming weeks but he couldn’t confirm it and said they had not received any confirmation from the Supreme Court.

“We have requested an assignment but we haven’t heard anything,” Shaffer said.

Kimberly Bathgate, a spokesman for the state’s Supreme Court, could not confirm if Valasek or any replacement at all had been chosen. However Valasek, who served as a judge for 25 years, noted that he’s available and had arranged with Butler’s court administration to work in November and December.

Butler County judges are paid $180,229, according to the Pennsylvania code. President Judges such as Doerr make $181,871. Senior judges are paid $558 a day.

Horan was first nominated to the federal bench in 2015 by President Barack Obama, but her confirmation languished on the U.S. Senate floor. She was again nominated by President Donald Trump to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Senate unanimously confirmed her nomination Sept. 6.

Her last day as a county judge will be Friday. Her new position as a federal judge starts Tuesday.

“She’s exactly what they need,” Doerr said.

Doerr has been a judge in county court since 1992 and was named president judge in August 2000. McCune previously served as the district attorney for the county, before being confirmed to the bench in 2006.