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Recent litigation filed against Luzerne County over council&rsquo;s vacating of the district attorney seat will be withdrawn, county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce announced Thursday.
				Sanguedolce said he and prior DA Stefanie Salavantis authorized withdrawal of the action in county court because the emergency surrounding the vacancy has been resolved. A notice of withdrawal was filed Thursday, according to the court docket.
				The litigation was prompted by a council majority&rsquo;s March 9 vote to declare the seat vacant because Salavantis is running for county judge. The county&rsquo;s home rule charter says the DA&rsquo;s office &ldquo;shall be declared vacant if the officeholder files a petition for nomination or election or becomes a candidate for any elective public office other than the one he/she holds at that time.&rdquo;
				Salavantis had said she would voluntarily step down March 25, even though she did not believe she was required to do so under state law that supersedes the charter. Her litigation said council has no legal authority to remove an elected DA or select a successor as stated in the charter.
				Council ended up withdrawing its March 9 declaration and accepting Salavantis&rsquo; March 25 resignation. The debate over whether council or the county court fills the seat was resolved by the subsequent passage of state legislation requiring county courts to fill vacancies with the First Assistant DA, which was Sanguedolce. He became DA on March 25.
				In his open letter to county residents and council released Thursday, Sanguedolce emphasized the charter &ldquo;still clashes with superseding law.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;The provision purporting to require the district attorney to resign upon running for office still exists, as does the provision wrongly empowering county council to declare the district attorney&rsquo;s seat vacant,&rdquo; his letter said.
				Litigation withdrawal was meant to allow council to &ldquo;undertake a serious and dedicated effort to correct the problems of the charter&rdquo; involving the district attorney&rsquo;s office without taxpayer-funded court intervention, it said.
				The recent dispute made council aware that state law supersedes the charter regarding authority over the district attorney&rsquo;s office, it said.
				&ldquo;As a practical analogy, had the charter attempted to govern county judges&rsquo; seats, which are also defined by state law, we highly doubt a similar debate would be necessary,&rdquo; the letter said.
				Speaking as both DA and a county resident, Sanguedolce urged council to invest time and resources &ldquo;to correct the discord in the charter in a more cost efficient manner than litigation would otherwise require.&rdquo;
				&ldquo;The conflict cannot continue until the next emergency or political battle arises. On behalf of everyone affected, fix these problems. Litigation, which should be the last option, will be the only option, if these issues remain,&rdquo; the letter said.
				Council Chairman Tim McGinley said the situation has raised questions about whether charter provisions involving the DA&rsquo;s office would survive a legal challenge. He said he is confident council will be addressing &ldquo;charter question marks&rdquo; and &ldquo;grey areas.&rdquo;

Luzerne County DA vacancy litigation to be withdrawn