Public defender joins Franklin County decide race | Information, Sports activities, Jobs

Thomas Soucia (photo provided)

MALONE – Thomas Soucia will seek a vacant seat on the bench in Franklin County Court following the resignation of Judge Robert G. Main Jr.

Franklin County’s public defender Soucia said he had handled thousands of legal cases over the past 20 years.

Soucia, a registered Democrat, has served as a public defender since 2007 and was a child support attorney for the Franklin County’s Department of Social Services from 2000 to 2007. He ran for family court judge in 2014, but voters chose Derek Champagne instead.

“If you’ve been a public defender for a few years, you see the fact that as a district court judge you may be able to do more.” Said Soucia in a prepared statement.

In addition to his work in Franklin County, Soucia served as a public defender in Micronesia, an island nation in the western Pacific, from 1997 to 2000. From 1989-1995, he served in the U.S. Navy Advocate General’s crops and served on the USS Cape Cod during Operation Desert Storm.

According to Soucia, he volunteered for the Peace Corps before joining the military and worked in the African nation of Lesotho from 1981 to 1984.

“My life being a veteran and a Peace Corps volunteer gives me the experience of making a very good judge in the district court.” Soucia said in a prepared statement: “I know what it is like to be poor, I know what it is like to make sacrifices, and I know what it is like to go there to provide for a family.”

Soucia has three children, one of whom is disabled, and said he believed he could bring sympathy and understanding to the district court bench that he believes are essential to any judiciary.

“Sometimes we have to work to improve our situation and I think I have the experience to do so.” Soucia said in a prepared statement: “I think that will enable me to do something really good.”

According to Soucia, he believes a district judge has to make difficult decisions, but also compassionate ones.

“My life has been devoted to serving others and this is a natural step for me to take to continue my service to others.” Soucia said in a prepared statement: “I don’t regret what I’ve done or not done in my life, but as I looked at this, I realized that this is probably my last chance to do this.”

Soucia graduated from Siena College in Loudonville in 1981 before graduating from Vermont Law School in Royalton, Vermont in 1989.

The process of circulating petitions for the vacant seat on the District Bank will begin on Tuesday March 2nd.

Soucia is the fourth candidate to take part in the race for the seat of the Open County Judge and the associated 10-year term.

If all four candidates get the required number of petition signatures, two Republicans and two Democrats will stand to vote during the June primaries.

In addition to Soucia, Democrat Craig Carriero and Republicans Elizabeth Crawford and Peter Dumas have announced their candidacy for the District Court’s bank.

Latest news and more in your inbox