Ben Lobdell

Benjamin F. Lobdell, son of Thomas P. Lobdell Sr. and Jeanne Lobdell of Clarendon, is announcing his candidacy for the Magisterial District Judge position covering Warren, Sheffield Township, and Cherry Grove Township. This is also known as district 37-2-01.

Ben is a veteran of the law enforcement community, with 13 years experience as a sworn law enforcement officer in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. He also worked in the corrections arena and has been working in Police Academy training, police in-service training and law enforcement firearms training since 2010.

Ben was raised in Warren, attended Warren Area High School, played football, and graduated with the class of 2000.  After graduation, Ben worked in the Warren area in the construction, food service, and truck driving trades, until he decided to move to North Carolina to attend Police Academy Training at the College of the Albemarle, in Elizabeth City, N.C.

After graduation from the police-training academy in May 2004 (with a 3.2 G.P.A), Ben began his career in law enforcement. He worked in Law Enforcement with multiple agencies in North Carolina from 2004 to 2012. Ben became a North Carolina Police instructor in 2010. With this certification, Ben worked his normal patrol officer duties while also working to educate and instruct new and veteran officers in new tactics, and updated currently known information to keep the officers and community safe with the best practices known to ensure the best possible outcome to situations. In April 2012, Ben also decided to go back to college and earn his degree in Organizational Management with a focus on Public Administration.  He graduated in August 2015, with a 3.5 G.P.A.

In 2012, Ben married his best friend and love of his life, Elizabeth Lobdell (Showers), of Berlin, Pa. Together they had the opportunity to move back to the Warren area. In April 2013, Ben and Elizabeth welcomed their daughter into the world, and in January 2015, they welcomed their son, knowing that the Warren area is where they intend to stay and raise their family, he said. Ben and his family are active members of Warren Alliance Church. Elizabeth is slightly more active as part of the church youth group leadership and one of the Sunday morning worship leaders.

When the opportunity to come back to Warren came, Ben was offered a job with the Warren County Career Center as the Protective Services instructor.  In August 2012, he took the position with WCCC and dove in head-first. Ben teaches high school students interested in a career in public service, educating them on Constitutional law, police sciences, firefighting, courtroom procedures, procedural law and justice, and emergency medical practices.

During his time at the Career Center, Ben has also advised multiple students to compete in Skills USA for criminal justice and crime scene. Ben’s competitors have brought back multiple second-place finishes as well as winning a gold medal in 2016 competition. This team went on to finish in second place at the state level in 2016. In January 2017, Ben led his team again, and the competitors received first place in crime scene and second place in criminal justice. The students in crime scene will compete again at the state level in April 2017.

Ben also works with the Warren County Juvenile Probation Department’s Youth Court Program. Ben’s students have access to juvenile offenders who qualify for the program and work them through an actual court proceeding within the Youth Court Program. This is a trial of the juvenile’s peers. The jury, prosecution, and defense are comprised of the students taught by Ben, and he and the program guide all their actions and courtroom testimony. The Warren County Court and Juvenile Probation ultimately facilitate this program. Court dates are set once a month, and the students are given multiple weeks to prepare for these events with case files and guidance by the Youth Court system and Mr. Lobdell. Upon completion of the court proceedings the students, who are the jury, deliberate and bring back a verdict as well as a constructive sentence to be carried out by the juvenile offender.  This sentence would be in the community corrections area, such as community service, apologies, and written statements, and is in lieu of normal penalties for juvenile offenders. Ben believes wholeheartedly in this program and will work to ensure its continuity in the Warren County area.

“If elected District Magistrate, (I) will work effectively, efficiently and unbiased due to (my) education, training and experience in the criminal justice, education, and courtroom arenas,” he said. “(I) will utilize (my) wealth of experience to ensure fair and equal treatment to those coming before (me) in both a voluntary and involuntary setting.”

Ben will also be available to speak with individuals who simply have questions, he said.  In the event the answer is not known, he will work with other members of the justice system to find and deliver the answer in a timely fashion. He contends he will continue to learn his craft in both the traditional classroom setting as well as through other members of the civil and criminal justice arenas.

Lobdell said he will always be available to members of the law enforcement community to ensure efficiency and effectiveness for them while they are working, and will work to protect them and the entire community in which we live.

Lobdell will be cross filing his candidacy, allowing his name to appear on both the Republican and Democratic tickets.