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Luzerne County Council has &ldquo;called into question the identity of the district attorney&rdquo; with its vote to vacate the seat because Stefanie Salavantis is running for county judge, county First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce told the chief solicitor in an email sent at 1 a.m. Wednesday.
				Sanguedolce requested legal counsel, saying it is &ldquo;urgent&rdquo; the DA&rsquo;s identity is established.
				Every criminal information outlining charges the offices is prosecuting in court must be signed by the district attorney, he said.
				In response to council&rsquo;s Tuesday night vacancy declaration, Sanguedolce and Salavantis have issued a combined directive that criminal informations are not to be filed until the DA identity issue is resolved, said his email to county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo.
				This directive was necessary because the legality of any criminal charge filed under the incorrect name at the county level is subject to challenge, he said. The county also may be sued by anyone held on or subjected to such charges, he said.
				Sanguedolce said he understands he may &ldquo;arguably&rdquo; be considered the interim district attorney because Salavantis had named him as her designee to exercise her powers and duties if she is temporarily absent, incapacitated or unable to serve.
				However, Sanguedolce said he respectfully submits that Salavantis is still the district attorney despite a council majority&rsquo;s vote to remove Salavantis from office.
				Salavantis said council has forced her to seek legal action by voting to vacate her seat.
				Council&rsquo;s majority-adopted resolution said the county&rsquo;s home rule charter provides that no district attorney shall file a petition for nomination or election or become a candidate for any other elective public office unless he/she first resigns from office. Salavantis has filed her petition to run for county judge.
				Salavantis said she does not believe she has to step down to run for judge because resignation is not required under state law that supersedes the charter. Still, she said she planned to voluntarily resign soon when the petition challenge period ends and she is certain her name will appear on the May 18 primary election ballot.
				&ldquo;I endeavored to avoid uncertainty in criminal cases and costly litigation by agreeing to resign. Nonetheless, county council &mdash; contrary to state law &mdash; has voted to remove me from office,&rdquo; Salavantis said. She questioned the legality of council&rsquo;s &ldquo;attempt at controlling the seat mere weeks before I agreed to relinquish the position.&rdquo;
				But county Council Chairman Tim McGinley and Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck said Wednesday that council had to take the action to comply with the clear charter mandate.
				McClosky Houck said Salavantis has both filed a petition and announced her candidacy for judge without first resigning from office as required under the voter-approved charter.
				Although Salavantis has stated her intention to resign, McClosky Houck said no resignation letter was submitted.
				&ldquo;The charter thinks it&rsquo;s appropriate that the district attorney turn in a resignation before a petition is filed. Saying you are going to resign is not the same as doing it,&rdquo; McClosky Houck said.
				McClosky Houck also noted Salavantis was not &ldquo;blindsided&rdquo; by council&rsquo;s action because she had been informed in advance that council may vote to declare the vacancy.
				&ldquo;She&rsquo;s the one making the choice to litigate it,&rdquo; McClosky Houck said. &ldquo;If her intent is to resign, she should have done it. I don&rsquo;t know why she would sue us over a matter of two weeks when it could all have been avoided if she had just turned in a timely resignation.&rdquo;
				In his email to Crocamo, Sanguedolce presented a legal position that state law takes precedence over the charter.
				&ldquo;Now, whether our home rule charter can supersede state law in the manner by which our district attorney is appointed or removed from office must be resolved,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Unfortunately, it is not clear that the interests of the office, the interests of the district attorney officeholder and the interests of Stefanie are unified. I therefore must request immediate appointment of independent, qualified counsel to represent the interests of the office of the district attorney.&rdquo;
				County officials have not released a decision on the legal counsel request.
				Crocamo issued this statement Wednesday: &ldquo;The Office of Law is reviewing all options available to council, which we will report directly to them so an informed decision can be made.&rdquo;
				Council members Robert Schnee, Harry Haas, LeeAnn McDermott and Sheila Saidman also voted to declare the vacancy in addition to McGinley and McClosky Houck.
				Separate from the vacancy issue will be a determination on whether county council or the county Court of Common Pleas picks Salavantis&rsquo; successor.
				Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough has said the court must fill the vacancy after publicly seeking applications from attorneys interested in filling the remainder of the unexpired district attorney term through January 2024. State law and case law are clear on this, he has said.
				However, the home rule charter says a county council majority fills the district attorney seat if it become vacant.
				Pending proposed state legislation also could affect the appointment of the district attorney replacement, but it&rsquo;s still unclear if it will pass in time. This legislation would automatically fill all county district attorney vacancies with the first assistant DA.

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