Although her term doesn't expire until Dec. 31, Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon will retire by Sept. 30, ending a 23-year judicial career.
County Judge Sara Sheldon works in her Lockport courtroom in this undated file photo.
Sheldon informed the state Office of Court Administration of her intention to retire early, said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for OCA.
Her cases will be reassigned to other judges.
Sheldon, a Niagara Falls Republican, could not run this year because of the state's mandatory judicial retirement age of 70. Running to succeed her are Michael E. Benedict, her law clerk, and District Attorney Caroline A. Wojtaszek.
Sheldon won election as Wheatfield town justice in 1997 and was appointed to a vacant county judgeship in May 2000 by Gov. George E. Pataki. Sheldon won a full 10-year term that November and was re-elected in 2010.
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In 2013, Sheldon founded Niagara County Veterans Court, a treatment court for military veterans charged with nonviolent crimes.
Before becoming a judge, she was an assistant district attorney from 1983 to 1992 and served as Wheatfield town prosecutor.
