Josh Parsons is a public servant who has served as an U.S. Army Infantry Captain, a prosecutor, and now as a Lancaster County elected official.  He has earned a reputation as a conservative reformer and take-charge executive.

Josh is a conservative fighting for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government.  Josh and his staff identified nearly 14,000 old criminal cases where the criminals had never paid their fines and restitution.  He launched a major project to collect this money by filing civil judgments on each case.  In two years this project brought in over two million dollars of new revenue that was owed to Lancaster County.

Josh is for cutting waste and shrinking government. By partnering with other fiscal conservatives, his efforts to reform the criminal justice system in Lancaster County resulted in major changes within a short time of his taking office. These reforms, which are some of the biggest changes to the Lancaster County criminal justice system in decades, are projected to save taxpayers millions of dollars and have won Josh praise from throughout Lancaster County. He then cut his own department's budget over 10% through increased automation and efficiency. Through good management, his department pays for itself and costs taxpayers no money.

Prior to being elected Clerk of Courts, Josh served in the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office where he quickly earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor.  He worked on thousands of criminal cases and fought side by side with police to protect the public and get justice for victims.  Josh was the District Attorney's representative to the Special Emergency Response Team, which is tasked with emergency operations such as hostage rescue missions and served in the Felony Drug Unit, which prosecutes dangerous drug dealers.  Skilled in the courtroom, Josh has taught as an instructor for a trial advocacy class at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law for seven years. Josh also recognizes that justice must be combined with mercy and that we must explore new ways to stop the cycle of recidivism – he was a founding member of the Lancaster County Veterans Court team, which provides a second chance to veterans in trouble.

Josh is also a former soldier.  The Army reinforced the values Josh learned growing up here in Lancaster County – integrity, responsibility, and service.  As an Infantry Lieutenant, he served as a Rifle Platoon Leader and then Executive Officer of an Infantry Company. After promotion to Captain, Josh was appointed one of four primary staff officers for a battalion of 870 soldiers.  He supervised all logistical operations for the Battalion, which was made up of 350 vehicles and over $138 million in equipment.  Josh served at the U.S. National Training Center helping to train U.S. soldiers heading to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Among his many decorations are the Expert Infantryman's Badge and the Army Parachutist Badge – awarded for becoming an Army paratrooper.

Josh understands the value of hard work and education.  Growing up in Lancaster County he had many jobs, including as a janitor, and he has earned scholarships along the way.  He is a graduate of the Penn State Dickinson School of Law, where he earned a full merit scholarship and the University of Delaware, where he earned an Army ROTC scholarship.  In addition to various Army leadership courses, Josh has also completed Harvard University's program for senior leaders in the public sector, Driving Government Performance: Leadership Strategies that Produce Results.

A proud conservative, Josh has worked on numerous Republican campaigns ranging from Presidential races down to local efforts.  He is a former member of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee and has been part of many other political and civic organizations. 

Josh and his wife Christina feel blessed to live, work, and raise their family in Lancaster County.