Each of the county's 10 row officers is elected
at large in the county for a four-year term. As specified by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania law, row officers include
the following: Clerk of Courts, Controller, Coroner, District
Attorney, Jury Commissioners, Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds,
Register of Wills, Sheriff and Treasurer. The title of row
officer came about in the early years of the constitution when
the departments were first listed in a row on the election
ballot. Their services might be more familiar to residents
than their actual office titles - Residents
get passports, marriage licenses, and death certificates from
these offices. Dog and hunting licenses are issued, as well
as sportsman firearm registrations. Row officers prosecute
cases, maintain the county's auditing responsibility, enforce
the law in court matters, and provide for juries of peers.
Each must be 18 years of age and a citizen, and all except
the district attorney must be residents of the county for one
year prior to the election. A row officer cannot be a member
of the legislative body of any municipality, a school director,
a member of the board of health, a member of Congress or a
federal employee. DA candidates must be residents for two years
and is further required to have been admitted to practice before
the supreme court of Pennsylvania at least two years prior
to election.
Some of the row officers run for election in the same year
as the county commissioners; the others run two years later.
In case of death or resignation of a row officer, the governor
may make an interim appointment until a successor can be elected,
The Court of Common Pleas Board of Judges makes an interim
appointment to the office of district attorney.
The row officers receive office space and budget allocations
from the commissioners' office, but primarily function independently. |
Mary Smithson
Clerk of Courts
Ray McHugh
Controller
Dr. Joseph Campbell
Coroner
David Heckler
District Attorney
Theresa Farley/Debra DeBlasio
Jury Commissioners
Patricia Bachtle
Prothonotary
Joseph Szafran
Recorder of Deeds
Donald Petrille, Jr.
Register of Wills
Edward J. Donnelly
Sheriff
William Snyder
Treasurer |