LEBANON, Pennsylvania — Aurelis Figueroa says one of the main reasons she decided to run for Magisterial District Judge stemmed from a traumatizing experience she had.
“When I was arrested for a speeding ticket, I didn’t have any priors at all, no criminal charges and the MDJ denied a payment plan, and I just had a newborn. So, he was only two weeks old and I was placed in jail," said Figueroa
Figueroa says she has been involved in the community for many years, so she knew she had a fighting chance.
“Because I knew that the community wanted a change," said Figueroa.
She says she was very emotional when she learned that she had won.
“Tears...because of the glass ceiling that I just broke. Understanding that representation matters in our community. Understanding what it meant for little Latina girls to see someone like me that was raised in the same community as they were in a in a position like this," said Figueroa.
The Magisterial District Judge handles citations, preliminary hearings, and landlord/tenant issues.
“It’s very important to have someone that’s completely transparent and unbiased and that’s going to follow the black letter law not mattering who’s in front of them," said Figueroa.
Figueroa says she wants to give defendants more “humane alternatives” to fines.
So if someone has a speeding ticket and they don’t have the means to pay for it, they can do community service as an alternative.
“It is in the black letter law. I’m not changing I'm just opening the opportunity to defendants. let them know that they have that, because it’s something that here in Lebanon County is not being done as much as it should," said Figueroa.
Figueroa will serve a 6-year term. The position serves the 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th wards in Lebanon.
