Augello to become president judge

Luzerne County Judge Joseph Augello will automatically serve as president judge on Jan. 1 until a new leader is selected because he has the most seniority.

Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Chester Muroski officially retires at midnight Dec. 31, which means the powerful leadership role will be up for grabs. A president judge successor is supposed to be selected by judges on the 10th day after Muroski’s retirement, Sundays not included, which would be Jan. 11 or 12, Muroski has said. However, judges can’t vote until after Jan. 16 because the county’s two newly elected judges – Tina Polachek Gartley and William Amesbury – will be attending a school for new judges from Jan. 10 through 16, court officials said.

Augello said he cannot change the date on his own and will require a vote of a majority of judges to come up with a new time and date.

Judges David Lupas, Thomas Burke and Hugh Mundy will also vote. It’s unlikely that a seventh state-appointed judge will take office in time for the vote.

Augello, who has served as president judge in the past, said there has been no discussion on who is or isn’t interested in the leadership seat.

Only Burke, who was retained for another 10-year term in November, has publicly expressed an interest.

Muroski promised change when he took over as president judge on Jan. 30, saying he would not be a “dictator.” The president judge has control over judicial assignments and hiring in several court branches. Muroski included all judges in decisions about hiring, policies and budgeting. He scheduled frequent en banc meetings of judges and updated the public on topics discussed during those meetings.

Former president judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan have been characterized as secretive and unwilling to include colleagues in decisions.

The men are no longer on the bench and have been accused of receiving $2.6 million in improper payments in exchange for actions that benefited two privately owned juvenile detention centers. The men had already pleaded guilty to accepting the money. An indictment was filed after the former judges withdrew their guilty pleas on Aug. 24. The delay in voting on a new president judge could mean that Augello will have to vote on a county salary board meeting held in early January in which all job positions and salaries are authorized. Positions that are eliminated to balance the 2010 county budget must be approved at that meeting.

The three commissioners and controller-elect Walter Griffith will sit on the salary board, and the president judge has votes on positions in court branches, including probation and stenographers.