Luzerne County sheriff, coroner highlight staffing woes in budget talks

Luzerne County’s sheriff and coroner both presented staffing struggles during county council’s budget work session Monday night.

“It’s becoming incredibly hard for me to bring in qualified candidates and keep those candidates,” Sheriff Brian Szumski told council.

Sheriff deputies start at $14.28 per hour, or $28,550 annually, and must stay at Penn State University’s main campus for 19 weeks to obtain required Act 2 training and certification, he said.

He’s had 50 deputies leave since 2019, including 24 this year, and about half cited the low compensation as the reason in their exit interviews, Szumski told council. He noted new deputies can make more at some area warehouses and fast food restaurants without having to leave their homes and families for 19 weeks of training.

Sheriff deputy compensation is set by the AFSCME court-related union contract, which is now in negotiation because it expires the end of this year.

Another hurdle is getting applicants through training school, Szumski said. Three years ago, the state stepped up the physical fitness requirements to match those in Act 120 requirements for police, he said. The sheriff said he lost five new viable hires this year because they could not pass the physical entrance exam, including three unable to perform a required number of sit-ups.

Szumski said 22 of the 45 sheriff deputies currently employed still must attend the 19-week academy to become certified.

He had 12 vacancies but recently filled nine, with these new hires awaiting more extensive background checks required by the state.

“We’re definitely in a terrible situation staffing-wise,” Szumski said.

County Councilman Robert Schnee said 70% of the deputies are receiving annual compensation in the low $30,000 range while they are expected to risk their lives.

“I encourage my colleagues to look at that very close when it comes to contract time,” Schnee said.

The sheriff’s department, which also covers security workers, is budgeted at $2.58 million this year and seeking an additional $170,218 in 2022.

It is part of the judicial services and records division along with the county’s records storage facility in Hanover Township and the deeds/wills, coroner and prothonotary/clerk of courts offices.

Overall, this division is seeking $5.18 million for expenses in 2022, which is an increase of $266,883 from this year’s allocation. Meanwhile, revenue is projected at $4.79 million, or $92,975 less.

Coroner

County Coroner Francis Hacken presented a fast-paced summary packed with statistics to demonstrate his office is busier than ever and in need of two new field investigators that would each receive $32,000 plus benefits.

County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo told council she eliminated his additional staffing request from her proposed budget as part of her decision to avoid seeking a tax hike that a council majority appeared to be unwilling to pass.

Judicial Services and Records Division Head Joan Hoggarth told council Hacken’s request is a “desperate plea for help.”

Hacken and his staff work more than 50 hours per week without additional compensation and are on call at all times unless they have scheduled time off, she said. Often these workers are alone in the field and tasked with moving the deceased without assistance, she said.

“We cannot continue to expect employees to work under these conditions. It’s affecting their physical and their mental well-being,” Hoggarth said. “They are exhausted.”

She noted her division has innovatively come up with ways to continue providing services throughout the pandemic and typically does not request additional funding.

“This year we are asking for help. We cannot continue to provide the services as expected without this help,” Hoggarth said, urging council to consider a budget amendment adding the two positions.

The coroner’s office must investigate deaths that occur outside medical facilities or when the deceased have been in a hospital setting for less than 24 hours.

Hacken said the office historically investigated approximately 1,200 deaths, but the number rose to 2,066 last year. This stems from both COVID-19 and additional measures he imposed to increase accountability, he said, adding that he expects to be in the 2,066 range again this year.

He said his two full-time field investigators handled almost 1,200 cases this year through the end of October. He described their work as “incredible” and “unbelievable.”

Drug overdose deaths are another contributor to the rising cases, he said.

The county had 128 drug overdose deaths in 2019 and 179 last year, he said. This year to date there are 180 confirmed or pending toxicology results, and he predicts the county will end 2021 with more than 200.

About 75% involve the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, he said.

“Fentanyl is affecting teenagers to people in their 60s,” Hacken said. “It’s affecting our society to a great extent.”

He does not foresee fentanyl losing its grip in 2022 and said the overdose deaths have caused a “drastic” increase in toxicology and autopsy expenses.

More processing also is required because cremation requests are rising, he told council. The law requires the coroner’s office to review death certificates before a cremation is authorized in case something suspicious or questionable must be examined.

Hacken said he has increased evidence sampling and photographs and other documentation to provide more “medical factual confidence” in conclusions about the cause and manner of all deaths investigated by his office. His office has increased its subpoenas 800% since 2019, he said.

The coroner’s 2022 budget request is $662,844, which is an increase of $37,000. Again, this does not include the additional staffing he is seeking.

Courts

Also on Monday, county Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh presented proposed budgets for court administration, magisterial district courts, probation services and domestic relations.

Collectively, court branches are seeking $19.36 million in 2022, which is a decrease of $179,427 from this year’s allocation. The request includes funding to provide 2% raises to non-union court employees, he said.