Somerset County GOP - Jerry Spangler

Now in the middle of his fourth term of service to the citizens of Somerset County, Jerry Spangler has lead the fight against crime by aggressively prosecuting criminals and ensuring the rights of victims of crime. His integrity in administering the office, effectiveness in his advocacy in the courtroom and leadership in the community and in professional organizations have earned him the respect of his peers, both here and across the Commonwealth.

Mr. Spangler has over 30 years of legal experience and has participated in almost all aspects of the county criminal justice system. He has served as a law clerk, a public defender, a solicitor for the probation department and, for the past 21 years, as a prosecuting attorney. He was an assistant district attorney for seven years prior to his election in 1995. He has been re-elected three times, and demonstrated bi-partisan support by being the nominee of both political parties in 1999 and 2003.
As a prosecutor, he has prosecuted three homicide cases to successfully jury verdict and has handled the wide variety of cases that come before our courts. He has reached out to victims of crime and police officers and sought their suggestions on how their cases should be handled. A lifetime resident of the county, he has worked with and listened to the residents of this county and worked hard to reflect our values in the decisions he makes in the office.

He spearheaded efforts to create a criminal justice advisory board that brings together all the different participants in the criminal justice system—police, courts, victims organizations, probation and correction officers and defense counsel—to identify ways to improve our local services. He successfully wrote and submitted a $100,000 grant application to fund a system assessment to identify areas of improvement. He supervises the county drug task force and has led efforts to improve communication and cooperation of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and has aggressively prosecuted drug violations. He is working to allow police drug dog searches of schools by task force officers. He has led efforts to use information technology to make our local agencies better informed and more efficient. As a member of the Prison Board, he has led efforts to identify problems and solutions. He served on a Prison Overcrowding Task Force and arranged for a free study by the National Institute of Corrections. He has supported efforts to create a Drug Court for juvenile offenders. He initiated efforts to create a Task Force on Elder Abuse to assist local police departments in investigating elder neglect and financial crimes against the elderly.

Spangler is a past-president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute, an training organization for the 3000 prosecuting attorneys in the Commonwealth He is also past president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and a past president of the Somerset County Bar Association. He has been named in Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in America Politics for the past three years. He is chair of the Professional Responsibilities and Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and serves as a liaison with the National District Attorneys Association and the United States Department of Justice on issues of prosecutorial ethics and professional responsibilities.

Spangler is a member of the Flight 93 Memorial Federal Advisory Commission and serves as co-chair of the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force. He is a member of the Council of Trustees of California University of Pennsylvania and served as their chairman from 2003-2007. He is also on the board of directors of the Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania. He is the past-president of the Somerset Lions Club. He served on the board of directors of the Somerset County Historical Society for 17 years and was co-chair of the Somerset County Bicentennial Commission. He is a past officer of the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce, Laurel Arts and the Somerset Jaycees.

He is a graduate of Shanksville Stonycreek High School, California University of Pennsylvania and the Dickinson School of Law. He is the son of Ray and Gladys Spangler.

Jerry Spangler is a resident of Conemaugh Township where he lives with his wife, Susan. They are members of St. David’s Lutheran Church.
He has been a leader in the Republican Party. He currently serves as a member of Republican State Committee. He has served on the executive committee for the county party since 1982 and served as county committee chair from 1986-1988. He previously served on Republican State Committee from 1990-1997 and served as chair of the Southwest Caucus and a member of the State Leadership Committee from 1994-1996.