Pocono News Section

New Help for Juvenile Case Load

New Help for Juvenile Case Load - Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009 @ 06:00pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- Luzerne County will get new help to move past a juvenile court scandal.

Two county judges will go to prison for a kids for cash scheme. Thousands of juvenile cases they were involved with will be reconsidered. It’s putting quite a workload on the district attorney's office.

The state aid includes funding for five new positions. Those staff members will help an independent judge sort through the mess two corrupt judges left behind. "I am so glad that the state has heard our cry for help," said Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll.

New staffers will prepare thousands of old county juvenile cases for review. They were cases handled by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella. He pled guilty to a kids for cash kickback scheme in January.

Musto Carroll says her staff is busy enough with murder cases and other work. “This is a burden on top of that but getting these positions is going to greatly relieve that burden. It's going to assist us in helping us to go forward," said Musto Carroll.

The old cases will be sent to an independent judge in Berks County. The state Supreme Court appointed him to the case reviews in February.

With Luzerne County facing a huge budget shortfall, funding the review workload wasn't easy. The Berks County judge noticed. Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla said, "Has called several times and asked when is this project getting started? And we basically said we don't have the manpower."

Now the funding is approved and county commissioners are hoping it's the beginning of a fresh start. "I see it as there is light at the end of the tunnel. We've had some really tough months behind us now and we have some tough months ahead," said Petrilla.

However the state budget has to pass before the five positions are hired.