Lackawanna County asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to temporarily block county judges from appointing a replacement for former Commissioner Matt McGloin.
The county and Commissioner Bill Gaughan asked the state’s highest court for an emergency order barring the appointment until the court rules on their appeal of lower court rulings related to McGloin’s replacement.
The county common pleas court judges are scheduled to interview three potential replacements Thursday and are expected to pick one immediately after the interviews.
The application for the emergency orders says state rules governing court appeals require waiting until an appeal is over.
County President Judge James Gibbons said the judges plan to interview the candidates "unless we get word from the Supreme Court."
Less than an hour after Gibbons spoke, the Supreme Court asked lawyers for the county Democratic Party and Republican County Commissioner Chris Chermak for a response to the request for an emergency petition by 3:30 p.m. Thursday. That's when the interviews are scheduled to begin.
The county and Gaughan have asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of a Commonwealth Court ruling. That ruling upheld a county court of common pleas ruling that validated a county home rule charter process for replacing elected officials.
Using that process, the county Democratic Party in February recommended three potential replacements for McGloin, who resigned to take another job. The charter process calls for the common pleas judges to pick one of the three.
The party recommended former county planning and economic development director Brenda Sacco, Olyphant Council President James Baldan and Scranton School Director Bob Casey.
After losing in Commonwealth Court, Gaughan and the county appealed to the Supreme Court, which has not decided whether to hear the appeal.
Gaughan and the county argue state law and a Supreme Court judicial rule require the common pleas judges to start over without the party having a direct say.
Chermak is only involved in part of the appeal. His lawyer contended Gaughan and the county couldn't challenge the charter replacement process without a vote by the Board of Commissioners. The county and Commonwealth courts agreed a vote was necessary, but Gaughan and the county have also appealed that.
The county Board of Elections, which includes Gaughan, voted Friday to scheduled a special election Nov. 4 to fill out the remaining two years of McGloin's four-year term.
The county Democratic Party challenged that in county court Monday. A hearing on that challenge is scheduled for next Wednesday.
Check back for updates.
