Centre County district attorney seeking second term as county’s top prosecutor
Centre County’s top prosecutor plans to run for a second term after heading the office with one the largest budgets in the county for the past four years.
District Attorney Bernie Cantorna announced Monday he is seeking reelection to the $185,665 per year post, the fifth-highest salary for an elected official in Centre County.
“Four years ago, I announced my candidacy for Centre County district attorney because our legal system was in crisis,” Cantorna wrote in a statement. “During my first term, our office has worked diligently to restore public trust by building a dedicated team of staff and lawyers who work hard every day to hold the guilty accountable, protect the innocent and preserve the dignity of victims and their families.”
Cantorna, 58, is the first to announce his candidacy for the position. An average of about two candidates have been on the municipal primary ballot since 1997.
The Chicago native and University of Wisconsin graduate took office in December 2017. He ran on both the Republican and Democratic tickets and defeated Stacy Parks Miller.
He hailed resolving cases more quickly than his predecessor and creating two diversionary initiatives, one for those with serious mental illnesses and one for veterans.
“If elected to a second term, my primary focus will be to ensure that our community is kept safe and that we continue to work toward solutions that solve the underlying issues that bring people to court,” Cantorna wrote. “That work will include the growth of the district attorney’s behavioral and mental health initiative, the development of a treatment program for our veterans and continued expansion of the drug treatment court.”
Cantorna’s first year in office was marked by the prosecution of four murder cases, an unprecedented amount in Centre County that all ended with either a guilty verdict or a guilty plea.
His office also partnered with State College police to investigate a January 2019 shooting that left four people dead and another woman severely injured.
The most public critiques of Cantorna came when he declined to prosecute allegations of sexual hazing among the Penn State football team and the State College police officer who fatally shot a borough resident in March 2019..
The primary election is scheduled for May 18.