Luzerne County Court officials want to create a new $60,000 master position as part of a revamping in the way divorce filings are processed.
Masters are attorneys who preside over initial court matters to free up county judges to focus on other cases. Judges take over cases if they can’t be resolved at the master level.
Under the current system, a pool of around 35 outside attorneys serve as divorce masters, county Court Administrator Michael Shucosky told county council members during this week’s 2017 budget work session.
These independent contractor attorneys are not on the county payroll and receive a $125 filing fee and other court-approved fees paid by the divorcing parties, he said.
Court officials are concerned because this approach may be deemed improper, Shucosky said. The Internal Revenue Service has taken a position in some Western Pennsylvania counties that the independent contractors should be classified as county employees subject to withholding taxes, he said.
To avoid a problem here, court officials propose hiring a staff master and ending the use of outside attorneys, he said.
Putting divorce cases before one master also will end inconsistencies in the handling of divorce matters stemming from reliance on different outside attorneys, he said.
Divorce filings are expected to increase due to a new state law shortening the length of separation required before entering into a no-fault divorce from two years to one year, Shucosky said. The law was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf last month and takes effect in early December.
The county has been averaging around 750 new divorce filings annually, with about 20 percent no-fault, Shucosky said.
A portion of the $60,000 master salary would be recouped because the county can keep the $125 filing fee instead of turning it over to outside attorneys, he said. Court officials also are proposing a fee increase but can’t institute new protocol adopting the change until they obtain state approval, he said.
Councilman Rick Williams questioned if one master could handle the volume of cases.
Shucosky said yes and noted the court’s increased use of computerized records has reduced the need for support staff.
The court now has four masters, each paid $60,000, specializing in child custody, juvenile dependency, juvenile delinquency and child support, he said.
The county’s proposed $136.2 million general fund operating budget earmarks $16.3 million for court branches, which includes court administration, probation services, domestic relations and magisterial district judge offices.
Shucosky said the court’s budget request has remained flat from 2016 because the cost of mandated union raises was offset by retirements. The resulting vacancies were filled at reduced starting salaries, he said.
Some increases were unavoidable, court officials told the council. For example, an additional $40,000 is needed for the drug treatment court because national standards recommend drug testing of newer defendant participants twice a week instead of once.
Parking for court employees and vehicles based at the county’s downtown Wilkes-Barre Penn Place Building is budgeted at $50,000 instead of $10,000 because the past parking location at the recently-sold former New Jersey Central train station property on Market Street is no longer available. The county secured 130 spaces at the nearby Jewelcor property for $35 per month each and is seeking proposals trying to obtain a better price.
