Pocono News Section

Luzerne Co. Chief Public Defender Resigns

Luzerne Co. Chief Public Defender Resigns - Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 04:07AM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Wednesday March 17 2010
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- Luzerne County's chief public defender has resigned. County commissioners accepted basil Russin's resignation Wednesday morning.

Last week, Russin paid the county almost $28,000 he received for "on-call" pay. That money was not approved by the county.

Russin told Eyewitness News Wednesday that it was approved by the previous Human Resources Director and that he was not trying to hide anything.

"When I did this it was open, it was transparent. The payroll was sent to four different offices every other week. I was not hiding anything whatsoever, it was not done serpiticioulsy, it was done openly and knowingly. Now they changed that policy."

Russin says he thought it best to end the controversy and clear the air. He'll now spend more time at his private practice.