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Proposed Luzerne County budget includes 5% tax hike

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$52.6M WB budget plan anticipates $1.7M in fees

<p>Luzerne County has a new coroner &#8212; retired Pennsylvania State Police captain Frank Hacken, county Manager C. David Pedri announced Tuesday.</p><p>Pedri said Hacken has &#8220;dedicated his life to law enforcement and public service.&#8221;</p><p>Hacken was with the state police for 27 years, retiring at the rank of captain. He also was troop commander at the Dunmore barracks and served as both a patrol commander and crime section commander, overseeing hundreds of criminal investigations during his career, Pedri said.</p><p>Most recently, Hacken has worked as a captain at the county prison, where he handled internal prison investigations and supervision of 300 workers, Pedri said. County records indicate Hacken was promoted from prison lieutenant to captain in March 2018.</p><p>Hacken has a bachelor&#8217;s degree in criminal justice from the University of Scranton and a master&#8217;s degree in public administration from Marywood University.</p><p>He will be paid $63,000 per year as coroner.</p><p>Hacken received $66,000 as a prison captain but agreed to a pay cut to help the county and its law enforcement community, Pedri said.</p><p>Pedri said Hacken has the &#8220;experience, training and attitude needed to succeed in this position.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Frank Hacken&#8217;s understanding and knowledge of criminal investigations along with his extensive administrative and public service background makes him an ideal candidate for this position,&#8221; Pedri said in a release. &#8220;We are lucky to have him on our team.&#8221;</p><p>The position is vacant because Daniel J. Hughes recently resigned.</p><p>Five applicants met minimum qualifications for the post, which had been advertised at $55,000 to $65,000.</p><p>While past county coroners here have been funeral directors and medical professionals, other counties have had coroners with law enforcement backgrounds.</p><p>The coroner was an elected post in the county before the 2012 switch to a home rule structure made it an appointed one.</p><p>Pedri had selected Hughes earlier this year to replace retired coroner William Lisman, and both Hughes and Lisman had experience as deputy coroners and funeral directors.</p><p>George Hudock, a doctor and pathologist, was the county&#8217;s elected coroner from 1969 until his death in October 2005. Physician Jack Consalvo was appointed to fill the seat until funeral director John Corcoran was elected to the post. Corcoran served from 2008 through 2011.</p><p>Hughes resigned last month, effective immediately, citing what he called the &#8220;hostile and unprofessional work environment&#8221; under county Judicial Services and Records Division Head Joan Hoggarth. Hoggarth has declined comment on the matter.</p><p>In his resignation letter, Hughes said Hoggarth did not support his hiring and provided no positive review in his recent performance evaluation. His letter also said his concerns about overtime pay for a staffer and possible &#8220;inappropriate spending&#8221; from a state fund account were reported but not addressed.</p><p>While the county administration has publicly declined comment on the state funding issue, Pedri provided a response on the overtime matter in response to an inquiry from citizen Jason Carr during Tuesday&#8217;s budget meeting.</p><p>Pedri said Lisman had included overtime for a worker in his public budget request dating back several years due to an office manning and coverage concern. However, Pedri said he has discussed the matter with Hacken and asked him to eliminate the mandatory overtime for that worker.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hacken </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Hacken.jpeg-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hacken </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Retired PSP captain Hacken is new Luzerne County Coroner