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DA says Luzerne County’s crime increase requires more resources, expert witnesses.
Luzerne County officials expressed concerns about increased workloads, corruption and tightening budgets at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Luzerne County Government Study Commission.
District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll, county solicitor Vito DeLuca and prothonotary Elizabeth Decker outlined the current challenges they face keeping up with the demands of their positions.
Musto Carroll told the study group she has a “very good relationship with the county commissioners” but prosecuting the increasing crime in Luzerne County is becoming very expensive.
Her office is dealing with the 16th homicide defendant in 2009, has over 20 other cases pending – including 10 death penalty cases, she said. Many of these cases require “expert witnesses,” who the county must pay to get their testimony.
In the case of the murder of Bryan Kocis, the county paid “a couple hundred thousand” dollars for expert witnesses and witnesses that came from other states and countries, she said.
Study commission chairman Jim Haggerty asked Musto Carroll if the county’s efforts to cut budgets can limit the district attorney’s ability to do the job. She replied she “hopes it never comes to that.” The office employs 10 detectives and 30 attorneys, she said.
She talked briefly about the recent judicial corruption probes, adding they had to be “referred out” to state and federal authorities because they are “beyond the realm” of the district attorney’s office.
When asked about whether her $160,000 annual salary can be changed if the county goes to a new home rule government, she joked “do you want to make it more?”
DeLuca described his job as “anything but typical” because of the current rush of public employee corruption. “It’s like sweeping a dirt floor,” he said.
He pointed out the current “county code” is outdated. Jury commissioner is an example of one position that can be totally eliminated, he said.
He said he now earns $50,000 per year and has three assistants that earn $39,000 annually. Even though considered part-time employees, he said the amount of time they spend working for the county is “commensurate with the salary.”
Study commission member Jack Schumacher asked about current purchasing policies. DeLuca said “all purchases are scrutinized.”
He added many row officers don’t have the expertise to handle contract purchasing.
Commission member Richard Heffron said that, during the recent interviews with county officials about ongoing issues, the commissioners blamed the row offices and the row offices blamed the commissioners. He asked if an “ego” problem exists.
DeLuca responded the commissioners “reached out” numerous times and any egos that get in the way are on the side of the row officers.
Decker took her turn to highlight how her office now handles about 19,000 files per year compared to 14,300 a year ago. She added about 2,000 filings from “angry uninformed” property owners disputing the recent assessment are causing a strain on her budget and staff.
Her office current employs 17, down from 20, increasing the demands on her staff to get their work done. Additional warehousing is being used to store the mountains of paper files.
With money being tight, more work demands and lack of storage, the prothonotary is a perpetual “balancing act,” she said.