Judge Michael Pietruszka was elected to the Erie County Court Bench on November 3, 1998, receiving over 245,000 votes. He ran unopposed in the general election, having garnered the endorsements of the Erie County Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Liberal and Independence Parties. He also had the backing of many public officials, including Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski and Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello. The Buffalo Council of the AFL-CIO, Region 9 of the United Auto Workers, the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council, the Police Conference of New York , the WNY Council of the Communications Workers of America, the WNY Joint Board of UNITE, and many other local labor, civic and political organizations supported Judge Pietruszka in this campaign. He began serving on the County Court on January 1, 1999.

Judge Pietruszka was appointed to the Buffalo City Court in January of 1988 by Mayor James D. Griffin. In 1988, he was elected as the youngest full-time judge in New York State, winning over 50% of the November vote on all four lines in a three-way race.

In his more than twenty years as a full-time judge, Judge Pietruszka has adjudicated more than 30,000 misdemeanor criminal cases in Buffalo City Court and more than 2000 felony criminal cases in Erie County Court, decided hundreds of appeals from the local courts and determined thousands of civil matters. And he has been complimented for his innovative and even-handed approach by both litigants and attorneys. In addition to his regular caseload, Judge Pietruszka has been presiding over Erie County's Felony Domestic Violence Court since the Summer of 2004 and the litigation occasioned by the City of Buffalo In Rem tax foreclosure sales since 2006.

Judge Pietruszka's decision in People of the State of New York v. National Fuel Gas was published in the NYS Official Reports at 10 Misc.3d 516 in 2005.

Judge Pietruszka is a member of the American, the New York State, and the Erie County Bar Associations. He also belongs to the Judges and Police Conference of Erie County, the Charles S. Desmond Chapter of the American Inns of Court, the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York and the Advocates Club of W.N.Y. He has served on the Criminal Law Curriculum Development Committee and faculty of the NYS Annual Judicial Seminar for many years, and continues to serve on the Eighth Judicial District's Public Trust and Confidence in the Courts Committee and the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities' Eighth Judicial District Committee. He is a Past Chair of the American Bar Association's National Conference of Specialized Court Judges and has completed the Advanced Leadership Institute in Judicial Education at the University of Memphis. Judge Pietruszka remains involved in national legal and judicial organizations in order to maintain his network with other judges which allows him to bring "best practices" from across the country to our Courts and Community.

Judge Pietruszka has lectured to groups of judges on the American judicial system while in Poland, assisted the Slovak Republic in preparing legislation organizing its post-Communist era judiciary and hosted many foreign visitors interested in studying the New York State judiciary.

He takes his community ties very seriously, being an active member of many organizations, including Msgr. Nash Council of the Knights of Columbus, the 100 Club of Buffalo, the Buffalo State College Community Advisory Committee, the Northwest Buffalo Community Center, St. Gabriel's Parish, Boy Scout Troop 325, the Msgr. Healy Foundation Scholarship Committee, Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee Lodge of the Order of the Arrow, the Buffalo Branch of the N.A.A.C.P., the Forest District Civic Association and the St. Joseph's Guild.

Judge Pietruszka is especially involved in the Polish-American Community of Western New York. He writes for the Am-Pol Eagle and Polish American Journal newspapers. He serves as a director of the Western New York Division of the Polish American Congress, a delegate to the Polish American/Jewish American Council of Western New York, the president of the Polish Cultural Foundation, a director of the General Pulaski Association and an honorary director of the Polish Cadets of Buffalo. In March of 1992, the Buffalo News Sunday Magazine published Judge Pietruszka's account of his visit to Rzeszow entitled "The New Old World". He has also published "Polonia Connections", a directory of Polonia organizations covering Western and Central New York, Southern Ontario and Northwest Pennsylvania, and compiles a calendar of Polonia events. He is continuing his work on a project to help unify the Polish American and Polish Canadian Communities in his region under the title "POLONIA OF THE EASTERN GREAT LAKES" which can be accessed at <http://polegl.org> or <http://mysite.verizon.net/vze85xxc/polegl>.

Judge Pietruszka has received a number of awards for his community activities, including the Judges and Police Conference of Erie County's 2007 Outstanding Judge Award, Christian Women's Council's Community Award, Professional and Businessmen's Association Man of the Year, Advocates Club of W.N.Y.'s Distinguished Leadership Award, Buffalo Bison Baseball Polish American of the Year, National Columbus Day Committee Jurist Citation of Honor, the Pulaski Police Association Man of the Year Award, the Buffalo Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Martin Luther King Jr., Human Service Award, the Hispanic Law Enforcement Officers Association Recognition Award and three Certificates of Honor from the N.Y.S. Bar Association. Judge Pietruszka served, along with U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh Scott, as a Grand Marshal of the first Kosciuszko - King Festival Parade in 2000. He is also listed in two editions of Who's Who in American Law , Who's Who in America 2000, Who's Who in the World 2001 and the first edition of Who's Who in Polish America.

Born and raised in Western New York, Judge Pietruszka graduated from Canisius College Magna Cum Laude, and graduated with honors from the Syracuse University College of Law.