Assistant District Attorney Judith Petrush will have a new role in addition to her day job as a Westmoreland County prosecutor.

Petrush, 53, of Murrysville, this week was elected president of the Westmoreland Bar Association and, in doing so, becomes the first full-time prosecutor to oversee the organization that represents about 500 practicing lawyers.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to give back to the members. It’s a great honor,” Petrush said.

The bar association presidency traditionally has been a role for private practice attorneys. Petrush said her election to the organization’s top post signals a push to entice more government lawyers to not only join the organization but also take leadership positions.

Outgoing President Scott Avolio said Petrush’s new role will benefit the organization and signals a willingness to include lawyers with a more diverse professional background into leadership positions.

“It’s a perspective that is different and we welcome the addition,” Avolio said. “We need to be more inclusive. In a county like Westmoreland, the practice of law has changed. There’s a greater volume of lawyers who are government attorneys. This will diversify the professional experience of our leadership.”

Bar association members elected Petrush during the organization’s annual meeting that, for the second consecutive year, was held remotely because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Petrush takes over an organization that has had had to adjust operations to include remote social events and the use of video for continuing education of members during the pandemic. As vaccine distribution ramps up this spring, Petrush said she’s hopeful the bar association will resume more traditional in-person functions during her one-year term.

“We are certainly looking at our strategic plan and we’ll be kicking off a capital campaign to support our new headquarters,” Petrush said.

A $900,000 project to purchase a renovate a new headquarters building on North Maple Avenue in Greensburg was completed last summer. Petrush said the pandemic enabled the organization to slowly acclimate to its new digs and she expects a more robust use of the headquarters throughout the course of her term.

Petrush, a Mt. Pleasant Township native, earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She has worked as an assistant district attorney in Westmoreland County since 1995.

She and her husband, John, who also works as an assistant district attorney, have two children.

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