Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Morffi Marks has announced she will run for Court of Common Pleas judge.

“I have been blessed to have spent a large portion of my career being the voice for child victims,” Morffi Marks said in a news release.

“Now, I want to take my courtroom experience as a prosecutor in handling the toughest cases while staying fair and impartial, and provide a court where justice is both served and the rights of all are protected.

“I also want to take my life experiences as a daughter, mother and wife to hear both sides of every issue and find the proper balance, serving both justice and the community at the same time.”

Morffi Marks says while working at the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, she has handled several thousand adult criminal cases, as well as more than 1,200 juvenile cases.

Initially, she handled a general criminal case docket comprised of drugs, thefts, forgery and burglary cases. She then was assigned violent crimes including robberies and aggravated assaults. Her general conviction rate is over 97 percent.

Currently, she is assigned to the special victims unit.

In this unit, her jury trials include a cold case baby homicide, rapes of children, stalking, aggravated assaults, indecent assaults on children, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.

Morffi Marks is bilingual.

Raised in the Lehigh Valley, she attended St. Catharine’s of Siena and Parkland High School where she played on the golf team.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Latin American Studies at the University of Delaware. She earned her law degree from Touro Law Center on Long Island, N.Y.

Morffi Marks says she helped establish the John Van Brakle Child Advocacy Center at the Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital, Lehigh Valley Health Network.

This center is the first hospital-based CAC in the Lehigh Valley.

A member of the multidisciplinary team of the CAC, she also works with sexual assault nurse examiners at Lehigh Valley Health Network and teaches legal topics to law enforcement cadets at the Allentown Police Academy.

Morffi Marks presents a sexting prevention presentation in local schools as well as to community and parent groups.

She resides in the Lehigh Valley with her husband, Michael Marks, chief of Whitehall Township Police Department, and their two children.