Candidate for
Judge; Court of Common Pleas; District 32

Judge Richard Cappelli is currently serving as Magisterial District Judge in Delaware County serving the townships of Concord, Bethel, Chadds Ford and Thornbury. Since his initial appointment in 1992, he has been elected to four subsequent terms. Richard has been a leader among his peers since he first began his service on the District bench. In 1993, he was elected President of the Delaware County District Judges Association. He then went on to be selected by his colleagues to serve as president of District Eleven of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania, Vice President of the State Association and ultimately President of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania ("SCJAP"), in 2003.

Judge Cappelli still serves as District Director for District Eleven of the SCJAP and serves as the Legislative Committee Member for his district. He has served on the Ethics Committee as Chairman as well as Co-chairman. He has served on the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Sub-Committee STOP Violence Against Woman. He has also served as the liaison to the Pennsylvania Bar Association for the past five years.

During his service, Cappelli co-authored and edited the Bench Book for Magisterial District Judges now in it fifth edition. This bench book is a practical guide to the day to day operations and responsibilities of Pennsylvania's District Judges and is widely recognized as a must read for all newly elected MJD's. He has also moderated numerous orientation and education programs for new judges and has lectured at a number of CLE programs on the practice before the District Courts.

For his efforts on behalf of the association, Richard Cappelli was recently honored with the Themis Award of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania. Cappelli has also received the Outstanding Service Award from the Widener University School of Law Alumni Association and has been honored as The Columbus Memorial `Person of the Year'.

He is a member of the Delaware County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and is a on the board of the Delaware County Justinian Society. He is also a member of the Widener University School of Law Alumni Board, and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Pennsylvania State Constables Association.

Prior to his distinguished career in the district court system, Cappelli served the county as a court-appointed master in Juvenile Court presiding over thousands of juvenile cases. He also served as Municipal Solicitor for Trainer Borough as well as Zoning Solicitor for both Aston Township and Yeadon Borough. Additionally, in 1982 he was appointed as the first full time Child Advocate in Delaware County. As a Child Advocate, he created the Special Prosecution Unit for the Delaware County District Attorney's Office for the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases, the first of its kind in the State of Pennsylvania.

Richard graduated from Widener University School of Law in 1981. He passed the PA Bar Exam the same year and has maintained a private law practice concentrating in Personal Injury, Wills and Estates as well as business counseling since that time. Prior to law school he earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from St. Francis University in Loreto, PA and his high school diploma from Salesianum High School in Wilmington, DE.

Judge Cappelli is admitted to practice before The United States Supreme Court, The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and all other courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Judge Cappelli lives in Concord Township and is married to Cindy Cappelli with whom he is celebrating twenty five years of marriage. They are the proud parents of two children, Andrew and Amy.