Published August 21. 2026 09:19AM<\/p>\n
Former Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin, the county\u2019s longest-serving chief prosecutor and a driving force behind major criminal justice initiatives for more than two decades, died Saturday at his Upper Saucon Township home, according to a statement from the Lehigh County Coroner\u2019s Office and Forensic Center. Authorities said he died of natural causes.<\/p>\n
Martin served as Lehigh County district attorney from 1998 until his retirement in January 2024, spending much of his professional life in public service and shaping the county\u2019s modern criminal justice system, according to a statement from the Office of the Lehigh County District Attorney.<\/p>\n
During his 26 years in office, Martin transformed the District Attorney\u2019s Office into a regional investigative agency supporting law enforcement throughout Lehigh County. Under his leadership, the office established the Child Advocacy Center, Homicide Task Force, Elder Abuse Task Force, David M. Petzold Digital Forensic Laboratory and Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center.<\/p>\n
He also helped create the county\u2019s first Drug Treatment Court, the Veteran\u2019s Mentoring Program and the Central Booking Facility, while expanding services for crime victims and witnesses, including the addition of Ramona, the office\u2019s first companion dog.<\/p>\n
As Lehigh County\u2019s criminal justice system grew, Martin hired, supervised and mentored generations of prosecutors whose influence continues throughout the region\u2019s legal community. He also played a leadership role within the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, helping promote professionalism and consistency in criminal prosecutions.<\/p>\n
In announcing Martin\u2019s death, Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio called him a dedicated public servant whose leadership left a profound impact on the county\u2019s law enforcement and criminal justice communities. Martin served with honor, dedication, integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice, Buglio said.<\/p>\n
The Lehigh County District Attorney\u2019s Office said in a press release Martin\u2019s influence can still be felt across the region and noted that his accomplishments continue to shape the administration of justice in Lehigh County.<\/p>\n
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Heintzelman-Stephens Funeral Home. Information regarding services is expected to be announced by the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published August 21. 2026 09:19AM Former Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin, the county\u2019s longest-serving chief prosecutor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-269727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}