Judge Ludgate was appointed to the Commission on April 21, 2008 by Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille.  She is a member of the Commission's Data & Field Services Committee and serves on the Commission’s HR12 Mandatory Minimum Study Advisory Committee.  She received a B.A. magna cum laude from Alvernia College in Criminal Justice Administration & Social Work in 1977, and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 1980. 

Judge Ludgate was elected to the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County in 1989 and was retained in 1999, with assignments to Family Court (1990-1992) and Criminal Court (1990 - present).  Since 2004, she has been Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division, a post she also held from 1997-2000.

Judge Ludgate is a member of numerous professional associations, including the National Association of Women Judges, the International Association of Women Judges, the American Inns of Court, and the Pennsylvania and Berks County Bar Associations.  She is also involved in many judicial related activities, serving on the Governor’s Advisory Board to Probation and Parole, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s County Systems Sub-Committee, and chairing many ‘Meet Your Judges’ forums on behalf of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges.  In 1996, Judge Ludgate was named to Pennsylvania’s Honor Roll of Women by the Pennsylvania Commission on Women.