Lawrence County salary board approves renaming, one-time $2,000 pay increases for prothonotary deputies

The Lawrence County Salary Board voted unanimously Aug. 5 to approve two resolutions that rename positions in the prothonotary’s office and award one-time $2,000 salary increases for designated chief deputies, effective retroactive to July 21, 2025.

The action came at a special meeting called so the prothonotary could reorganize staff after a recent retirement. Prothonotary Jody told the board she wants to designate a chief deputy and adjust a deputy’s pay, and that the changes were driven by a vacancy that could not wait for the board’s normal annual budget review. “So I have my 1 deputy who will be going to the chief deputy. She's been here for 18 years. Unfortunately, the base rates never changed. It's 43,000 per deputy, 45 for a a chief. So I'm only asking for the additional 2,000 to put on the deputy,” Jody said during the meeting.

The nut graf: The salary board — the county body authorized under Pennsylvania law to create or eliminate county positions and set pay for nonunion and management employees — approved (1) a resolution to create a voluntary chief deputy position with a base salary of $45,000, eliminate the existing senior chief deputy title, and award a one-time $2,000 increase; and (2) a resolution allowing the prothonotary to designate one chief deputy as senior and grant a one-time $2,000 increase that is removable if the designation is rescinded. Both resolutions take effect July 21, 2025.

Most important details: Proposed Resolution 31 would create a chief deputy (voluntary) position with a $45,000 base and specify that the appointee “shall receive a salary of $49,393 upon completion of established education goals and approved by the prothonotary clerk of courts and clerk of the orphans court,” eliminate the senior chief deputy position, and apply the change retroactively to July 21, 2025. A motion to adopt Resolution 31 was made by the prothonotary and seconded; the roll call returned unanimous yes votes and the motion carried.

Proposed Resolution 32 permits the prothonotary to designate a senior chief deputy from among chief deputies; the designated senior chief deputy receives a one-time $2,000 increase and would forfeit that $2,000 if the designation is removed. The board approved Resolution 32 by unanimous roll call.

Board discussion and context: The board chair said the county typically asks elected officials to wait for the next operating-budget cycle when requesting changes to base pay, but that the prothonotary’s retirement created a “domino effect” that required a special meeting. “Because of this retirement, this is something that could not wait until later this year. This had to be done as soon as possible,” the chair said. A commissioner noted that the office was adding a job title while eliminating another and described the overall change as a wash for county payroll.

The prothonotary also told the board she will hold off filling another vacant position, and she estimated that not filling that position will save the county about $65,000. She said her office includes three chiefs, three deputies, five union employees and herself, and that the requested changes would not affect union employees (union pay and terms are negotiated separately and do not come before the salary board).

Procedural notes and votes: The board accepted minutes from the June 24 meeting (with a correction to attendance), acknowledged that an executive session on personnel was held July 25, and then took the two formal votes on the prothonotary’s resolutions. For each resolution the roll call recorded unanimous yes votes from the five voting members present (the controller, three elected commissioners and the prothonotary serving as a temporary voting member for matters affecting her office).

What the board did not do: The salary board did not set union pay scales (those are negotiated by commissioners or their designees) and did not hire personnel; it changed position titles and approved the one-time pay increases and related administrative provisions described in the resolutions.

Looking ahead: Board members said they remain willing to meet for structural changes if future circumstances require it, and they reiterated their usual approach of grouping pay-rate requests into the annual salary-board review unless an urgent personnel change occurs.

Ending note: Both resolutions are effective retroactively to July 21, 2025, and the prothonotary thanked the board for convening the special meeting to address the internal reorganization and salary adjustments.