In 2013, Platts announced that he was running for a seat on the York County Court of Common Pleas. In a poll conducted by the York County Bar Association, 77% of its members responded that they believed Platts to be "not qualified" to serve on the bench. Platts and incumbent judge Mike Flannelly, also a Republican, who was appointed to the seat in 2012 following the death of Judge Chuck Patterson, both cross-filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primary elections. Platts won the Republican primary 56%–44%, while Flannelly won the Democratic primary by the same margin. Platts and Flannelly faced each other again in the general election in November, which Platts won with 58% of the vote, to serve a ten-year term.
