Christopher J. St. John, a graduate of Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, announced Tuesday he will seek election to Mercer County Common Pleas Court. St. John, 50, said he hopes to cap off an already successful legal career by continuing to serve the citizens of Mercer County as a judge.

St. John, who was president of his senior class at Kennedy, attended John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he played varsity football and was on the track team. He transferred to Pennsylvania State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in law enforcement and corrections in 1974, after completing three-month internships with the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, Bellefonte County Prison and the Mercer County District Attorney's Office. He was an investigator for the DA's office for a year, beginning in 1975.

St. John earned his legal assistant certification from Georgetown University. He then worked as a legal assistant for the Washington, D.C., law firm of Kirkland & Ellis from 1977 to 1980 before going on to law school.

St. John graduated with honors from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University in 1983. As a law student, he was invited to join the staff of the Cleveland State Law Review and was elevated to editor the next year and to editor in chief in his final year of law school.

After graduation, St. John and his wife, the former Cynthia L. Ridenour, retumed to Mercer County to raise their family. Both are Mercer County natives. They live in Clark with their two children, Lauren and Karly.

St John's first job was as a law clerk for Judge Francis J. Fornelli, where he learned firsthand the inner workings of the local court system.

After completing his clerkship, St. John went into private practice in the Greenville law firm where he is now a partner -- Rowley, Wallace, Keck, Karson & St. John.

He has been in private practice and an assistant public defender in Mercer County for nearly two decades.

St. John is a solicitor for Mercer County Industrial Development Authority and West Salem, Pymatuning, Greene, Perry, Deer Creek and Sandy Lake townships.

He has extensive experience with numerous jury and nonjury trials and arbitrations, both as arbiter and as litigator. He has logged thousands of court appearances, including oral arguments in appellate court, jury and nonjury trials, juvenile delinquency and disposition hearings, parole and probation violation hearings, sentences, arraignments, incompetency hearings, custody trials, and civil and criminal pretrials. He has participated in several trials for murder and major felonies.

St. John is licensed to practice before the U.S. and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania's Superior and Commonwealth court and all Pennsylvania courts of common pleas. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Mercer County bar associations and is a former secretary of the local group.

For five years, St. John has been editor of the Mercer County Law Journal, the county's official legal publication. As editor, he is responsible for reviewing, selecting and editing all the legal opinions of the county judges.

St. John serves on the board of John XXIII Home in Hermitage and Tushim Manor in Mercer. He previously served on the boards of the Good Shepherd Center in Greenville, what is now Northern Mercer County United Way and the Greenville Area Ladies Softball Association.

He is president of Greenville Lions Club, is a third degree knight with the Knights of Columbus, and belongs to the legion of the Loyal Order of Moose.

St. John is a longtime member of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Greenville and recently joined Church of Notre Dame in Hermitage. He has been a lector at Mass for more than 30 years and has been involved in many church activities, including Cursillo.

Since 1991, he has coached fundamental hitting, throwing and fielding to girls ages 9 through 18 in the Greenville Area Ladies Softball League; seven of his teams won league championships.

St. John said he believes his extensive experience as a civil and criminal litigator will enable him to make a quick and efficient transition to the bench. He further believes that his regular appearance in various types of court proceedings provides him a substantial working knowledge of civil and criminal procedures, sentencing and support guidelines and many other legal procedures.