Jan 3, 2017 3 min read

Four attorneys within the Washington County Court system are beginning 2017 with substantial raises that put their annual earnings at $69,000.

They are Amanda Fisher and David Rundquist, child custody conference officers; John Patrick Smider, master in divorce cases; and M. Scot Curran, master in support cases.

Fisher, as a part-timer, had been making $38,731, but Court Administrator Patrick Grimm said she will now be working full time. He described Rundquist as a former contract attorney with the county. “They’re the experts in their field,” Grimm said.

Rundquist’s, Smider’s and Curran’s positions previously paid $56,574. According to Grimm, the raises reflect their growing caseloads. The matters handled by the court-appointed attorneys enable judges to devote their time to other cases and keep them moving through the judicial system in a timely manner. Grimm said the attorneys’ salaries will now be comparable to those of assistant district attorneys, assistant public defenders and attorneys representing clients in Children and Youth Services cases.

A Pennsylvania Supreme Court order of Dec. 29, 2015, that took effect Jan. 1 of this year “essentially barred attorneys employed by the court from appearing before judges, masters or hearing officers of that court,” Grimm said, unless they are representing only themselves.

“Any outside employment or commercial activities by attorneys employed in the Unified Judicial System, including the practice of law, must be permitted by, and must be approved in accordance” with rules, code and other personnel policies, according to the Supreme Court order.

The positions were part of the county’s annual salary board reorganization, which was convened Tuesday morning. A position, also paying $69,000, for a full-time master handling the cases of juveniles was also approved. There had been two masters, John Richards and Jessica Roberts, each of whom had been handling the cases two days a week.

President Judge Katherine B. Emery said the new master will be starting work next week. An administrative order she signed Dec. 22 names Gina M. Ziady to the position.

The permanent members of the salary board – the Washington County commissioners and Controller Michael Namie – voted in favor of the changes. Elected officials have a seat on the salary board for matters concerning their specific office. The president judge also voted in favor of the court positions.

The salary board also granted 3 percent raises to salaried employees, identical to the raise that those who hold county elected office will be receiving.

Frank Byrd of Canton Township, during the public comment segment of the meeting, took aim at what he called “somewhat wasteful spending. In my opinion, it is not right for taxpayers to have to pay for” jail inmates’ television and ping-pong equipment, “carpeting in people’s offices and public housing.”

Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, a long-time opponent of footing the bill for cable television at the Washington County jail, noted after the meeting that, unlike some lock-ups, prisoners here do not have access to weightlifting equipment.

She also noted that women prisoners at the Washington County jail do not have the same opportunities for recreation as male prisoners. At the end of November, the last month for which figures are available, the county jail had 204 male inmates and 48 female inmates.