Mercer County Magisterial District Judge among new faces on Thiel College Board of Trustees

Posted May 08, 2020 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Magisterial District Judge Mary Odem, J.D., of Farrell, Pa., is among the new faces on the Thiel College Board of Trustees.

Odem is the first black woman in Mercer County to be elected a magisterial district judge. Her district includes Farrell, Hermitage, West Middlesex, Wheatland, and Shenango Township.

Odem is a 1999 graduate of Sharon High School in Sharon, Pa. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Pennsylvania State University and her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006.

Before being elected to the bench, Odem served as an assistant district attorney from 2008–2018. She was elected in November 2017. District judges commonly handle arraignments—the first court appearances defendants make after they have been arrested—set bail amounts and conditions, preside over preliminary hearings in criminal cases and handle small civil claims.

Her Board of Trustees membership adds to her extensive philanthropy work. Odem has served the Board of Trustees at Sharon Regional Health System, Christian H. Buhl Legacy Trust, Buhl Regional Health Foundation, George Junior Republic, Community Missionary Baptist Church, and is a member of the Pennsylvania and Mercer County Bar Associations. She also has assisted in coaching the Sharon Lady Tigers basketball team and is a proud mother.