Our Leadership
Honorable Stephen P. B. Minor
Judge Stephen P.B. Minor graduated from Coudersport Area High School in 1978. He attended Mansfield University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania, receiving his BA in 1982. He then attended ORU Law School, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, receiving his JD in 1986. After graduation from law school, Judge Minor was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1986. He began his career as an associate attorney at Binotto, Sweat and Johnson, in Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he practiced law from 1986-1991. Judge Minor was a member of the Washington County Bar Association during the same period of time. In 1991, Judge Minor relocated to be closer to his family and opened his general law practice under the Law Offices of Stephen Minor, P.C., in Port Allegany, McKean County, Pennsylvania, from 1991-2009. He was a member of the McKean County Bar Association during the same period of time. In 1995, Judge Minor was appointed by Judge John Cleland to be the McKean County Juvenile Court Master, where he held that position from 1995 until 2009. He was also appointed to be a custody mediator in McKean County as needed. In 2009, Judge Minor was elected as the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Potter County. He was retained in 2019 to serve an additional 10-year term. He was the Chairperson of the Juvenile Section of the Pennsylvania Conference of Trial Judges. He was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Pennsylvania Continuing Judicial Education Board in 2017. Judge Minor was appointed by Governor Wolf and reappointed by Governor Shapiro to the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission. In 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Judge Minor to the Judicial Ethics Advisory Board. Judge Minor is the Co-Chair of the Courts’ Committee for HEAL PA Criminal Justice Action Team. He is also a member of the Autism and the Dependency Courts Taskforce. Judge Minor is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network. Judge Minor is an instructor on Juvenile Justice and mentor for New Judge School from 2020 to the present. He is a past and present member and officer of several professional and civic organizations, including the American Red Cross and Rotary Club.
Robert J. Tomassini, Executive Director
Robert Tomassini is the Executive Director of the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (JCJC). Mr. Tomassini began his career in 1987 as a juvenile probation officer in Adams County, PA and was promoted to Deputy Chief Juvenile Probation Officer in 1991. In 2010, he was promoted to the positon of Director of Juvenile Probation Services in that jurisdiction.
In 2013, Mr. Tomassini was hired by the JCJC as Director of Administration and Grant Programs, overseeing the agency’s operating budget as well as management of the agency’s Juvenile Probation Services Grant Program, which provides nearly $18 million of state funding to juvenile probation departments across the commonwealth.
In July 2015, Mr. Tomassini was promoted to the position of Director of the JCJC’s Center for Juvenile Justice Training and Research (CJJT&R) located at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. The CJJT&R houses the agency’s training, graduate education, data collection and analysis, research, balanced and restorative justice, and detention monitoring programs.
In 2016, Mr. Tomassini was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the JCJC. This position is responsible for assisting the Executive Director in the development, implementation, and direction of programs in the areas of juvenile court policy and practice and juvenile probation policy and practice. In this role, Mr. Tomassini also served as the project coordinator of Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES), a statewide initiative introduced to sustain and enhance activities begun under Models for Change and to implement evidence-based practices at every stage of the juvenile justice process.
In July 2022, Mr. Tomassini was promoted to the position of Executive Director of the JCJC.
Mr. Tomassini holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master’s Degree in Administration of Justice from Shippensburg University.