President Judge, Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
The Hon. Michael J. Barrasse is in his 18th year as a judge in the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County. Prior to taking the bench, President Judge Barrasse was elected to three terms as district attorney for Lackawanna County. He also has served as a special assistant U.S. attorney, special attorney general for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and senior trial assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.
Judge Barrasse’s current responsibilities include President Judge of the 45th Judicial District, administration of the criminal docket, and the handling of treatment courts (adult, family, DUI, veterans, and co-occurring courts). Judge Barrasse was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) in 2017 (he previously served as Vice-Chair), teaches for NADCP, and serves on the National Drug Court Institute Veterans Curriculum Committee.
In Pennsylvania, Judge Barrasse serves as the judicial outreach liaison for the Department of Transportation and is chairman of the DUI Oversight Committee. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission Advisory Committee on Addiction Treatment Services and has been chairman of the Child Advocacy Center for 19 years. Judge Barrasse was appointed to serve on the Court of Judicial Discipline by Governor Tom Wolf on November 29, 2016.
Judge Barrasse has previously served on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board Hearing Panel, the National District Attorneys Association board of directors and the Technical Working Group of the U.S. Department of Justice.
In recognition of his work, Judge Barrasse has received numerous awards including the Pennsylvania Trial Judges Award for Efficient Caseload Management (Golden Crow Bar Award), the 2006 Pennsylvania Psychological Association Public Service Award, the 2007 John J. Baldi Award for excellence in program evaluation and review, the Women’s Resource Center Public Service Award, the 2016 Kevin Quinlan Award for Excellence in Traffic Safety, and the NAMI Pennsylvania Public Servant of the Year Award.
Judge Barrasse received his B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of Scranton and his J.D. from Dickinson School of Law.