Luzerne County manager’s office and others moving to Penn Place Building

The Luzerne County manager’s office and two other administrative departments will relocate to the county-owned Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to free up more space at the courthouse for court-related functions, Acting County Manager Romilda Crocamo told council Wednesday.

“The purpose of these moves is to not only make the physical footprint of the county branches of government more efficient and independent but to increase security in the county buildings that experience the most public traffic,” Crocamo said.

The moves will not impact courthouse space occupied by county council, including council’s meeting room, she said. The county administration will continue to have a presence in the courthouse by maintaining an office, she said.

Crocamo said the move will occur over the next few weeks.

According to her email:

The county manager and related staff will relocate to third-floor Penn Place space formerly occupied by county Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard M. Hughes III.

The budget/finance division will move to third-floor Penn Place offices that housed senior judges.

Finally, the law division will be housed in its own office suite on the second floor at Penn Place.

All three had been in the basement of the courthouse in an area known as the county manager’s suite. Court administration and various court-related services will move to that basement section.

When the shuffling is complete, all county judges will be located in the courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre or the nearby Bernard Brominski Building, she said.

Crocamo said she made the decision after “considerable consultation” with various divisions and departments, including county Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough, court administration, the sheriff’s department and the law, operational services and administrative services divisions.