Luzerne County Court seeking outside attorneys to help with indigent defense

Luzerne County’s court branch has publicly posted an advertisement seeking outside attorneys to temporarily provide indigent criminal defense while the county Public Defender’s Office is shortstaffed.

“We’re hopeful that attorneys are willing to take this assignment,” county Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh said Thursday. “We’re just trying to cooperate and help resolve the matter.”

Due to attorney vacancies, county Chief Public Defender Steven Greenwald said last September he had to stop providing representation for non-incarcerated, income-eligible individuals charged with misdemeanors. The office would continue to provide defense for indigent citizens charged with felonies and also inmates facing misdemeanors, he had said.

The following month, county Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough said the situation could not be ignored because the county is legally required to provide representation to indigent people charged with misdemeanors. Council agreed to transfer funds from the public defender’s office so the court could retain outside contracted attorneys to provide the mandated defense.

However, Vough said in December the plan to hire outside attorneys never got off the ground because the unionized assistant public defenders, represented by Teamsters Local 401, sent a letter saying the union would file a grievance over the use of others to perform public defenders’s office work.

The issue came to light because the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation emailed a letter to county council members expressing their “grave concern with the ongoing deterioration of indigent defense services” in the county.

Greenwald had said the union was willing to discuss a resolution.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz intervened and announced the court can proceed with seeking outside attorneys because a union official agreed the union won’t immediately pursue further action while it negotiates a new contract with the county.

Without contracted attorneys, county judges have been forced to expressly “appoint” the public defenders office to handle hundreds of misdemeanor cases.

The union contract covering attorneys in both the public defender’s and district attorney’s office expired the end of 2022.

Negotiations are ongoing, including a session held Thursday, Swetz said.

County council ratification will be necessary for a new contract to take effect.

Both Greenwald and county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce have said they want to avoid a situation where the contract goes to binding arbitration.

Greenwald had said his office has eight of 28 attorney positions open, with most departing lawyers citing compensation as a reason for leaving. The starting pay for attorneys in his office is $51,083 for full-timers and $34,165 for part-timers.

The advertisement seeking contract attorneys is posted on the Court of Common Pleas human resources section at luzernecounty.org.

Selected defense attorneys will be contracted for 90 days and receive $3,500 per month to handle misdemeanor criminal matters, it said.

Duties include representation, when constitutionally required, for pre-trial filings and hearings, guilty pleas and bench and jury trials before the county Court of Common Pleas, the posting said.

Applicant attorneys must have knowledge of Pennsylvania criminal law and procedure and state rules of evidence.

Interested parties should send a resume to the court administration, attention Melissa Schatzel, at 200 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre, with a 18711 zip code.

The advertisement also will appear in the Luzerne Legal Register, Hindmarsh said.