HARRISBURG -- A bill to create a fourth judgeship for Mercer County is moving through the Senate.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, sponsored the bill to create two new judgeships in Bucks County. The bill was amended last week in the judiciary committee to add judgeships for Mercer and Northampton counties.

If the bill becomes law, Mercer County voters would elect the judge in November 2003 to fill a 10-year term. The new judge would join three sitting judges on the Common Pleas Court.

Senate leaders haven't made any decisions on whether to slate passage of the bill before lawmakers break for the summer later this month, said Greg Warner, director of the judiciary committee.

Such bills often move at the close of the two-year legislative session in November. Often, the list of counties eligible for new judgeships will expand as the bill moves along the pipeline.

Typically, lawmakers like to know there is a countywide consensus in favor of a new judgeship before they vote to authorize it. But the parties view the matter from different perspectives. Judges consider caseloads, while the commissioners look at the additional costs. Lawmakers are aware that judgeship bills come up infrequently and that it could be another several years before the opportunity comes again.

State and county taxpayers share the costs of county judgeships.

The state pays a judge's annual salary as well as $70,000 annually for each sitting judge to partly reimburse the county for costs. But the reimbursement doesn't cover all costs, which can amount to $300,000 or more annually.