Luzerne County Courthouse
                                 Roger DuPuis | Times Leader

Luzerne County Courthouse

Roger DuPuis | Times Leader

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Litigation over the timing of Luzerne County’s district attorney election was filed Tuesday in the county Court of Common Pleas.

A county council majority voted in May to retain outside legal counsel — Stevens & Lee — to seek a court ruling on whether the district attorney’s race should be on the November general election ballot.

Republican Sam Sanguedolce, previously first assistant DA, was automatically appointed to fill the post March 25, when Stefanie Salavantis resigned because she is running for county judge.

Attorneys have offered conflicting interpretations on when the next election must be held under new state legislation governing DA vacancies. A county election board majority decided in April the race must be on the Nov. 2 ballot, with the county Democratic and Republican party organizations each able to choose a contender.

The five-citizen volunteer election board, which oversees election matters, has not yet decided whether the seat on the November ballot would be for a two- or four-year term.

Tuesday’s complaint against the election board was filed by both county council, represented by Stevens & Lee, and Sanguedolce, who has retained Philadelphia-based Kleinbard LLC.

Sanguedolce is named as a plaintiff in the action because he believes that, as the current holder of the office, he is an “indispensable party,” it said.

“As such, including DA Sanguedolce as a non-adverse plaintiff at the outset will aid in streamlining and expediting this litigation to a resolution,” it said.

Court intervention is needed to clarify when the office will be on the ballot and for what length of term the winner will serve, the complaint said.

The new statute says the first assistant DA serves “until the first Monday in January following the next municipal election occurring not less than 90 days after the occurrence of the vacancy.”

County Assistant Solicitor Michael Butera had argued the race cannot be on the ballot until the 2023 primary because nominees must be selected through a primary in a municipal election year, and the vacancy came too late for candidates to run in this year’s May primary.

However, Attorney Joseph M. Cosgrove, who was retained by the county Office of Law to provide an opinion, took a position the new statute requires the DA race to be on the ballot this November because it is the next municipal election.

According to the complaint filed Tuesday:

Under relevant provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution, state statutes and established case law, the plaintiffs argue the board’s decision to hold an election in November is “based upon an improper interpretation of applicable law.”

The state constitution provides that elections for DAs shall be held in odd-numbered years, and the election code mandates a municipal primary preceding each municipal election, the filing said.

“An election for the office of Luzerne County DA in November 2021 would be an unlawful special election that neglects to account for the ‘primary’ process for selecting candidates for municipal elections.”

The election code only provides for “special elections” for certain offices, and county DA seats are not among them.

It seeks declaratory judgement ordering that:

• The next DA election be held in November 2023 for a full, four-year term, with candidates nominated in that year’s primary.

• The election board does not have authority to place the DA office on this November’s ballot or specify a shortened, two-year elected DA term.

In arguing for the need for an injunction, the complaint says the current plan could lead to the “illogical result” of four different people serving as county DA within a few years: former DA Salavantis, current DA Sanguedolce, the winner of this November’s election and the winner of the November 2023 election.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.