The Lawrence County Salary Board on Dec. 15 approved a sweeping set of personnel and pay changes covering the courts, district attorney's office, jail, the public defender's office and multiple county departments, with most adjustments set to take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

President Judge J. Craig Cox told the board the courts' requests stem from three impending judicial swearing-ins that will trigger a domino effect in court staffing. The board adopted a series of court resolutions that create or reclassify positions, standardize pay for judicial secretaries and assistants, and authorize a joint law clerk for two courtrooms that the judge and commissioners said will reduce salary and benefit costs. "This creates [a] new part time law clerk position" to cover senior judges at a $20-per-hour stipend, Cox said, adding the Commonwealth will reimburse those costs in many instances.

The district attorney requested several office changes tied to a new collective bargaining agreement the county reached with the detectives union. District Attorney Lamacusa said the county-signed CBA (effective June 1, 2025) triggers a statutory Chiefs Act entitlement that requires parity for the chief detective, and the salary board approved a $7,500 increase retroactive to June 1. Lamacusa also outlined a reorganization of assistant district attorney roles that he said yields a net personnel savings of $3,255.88.

At the jail, the board approved multiple measures including $3,000 raises for two treatment counselors and stipends for administrative staff responding to an increased juvenile population. Commissioners approved creating a forensic peer navigator position to support individuals transitioning from incarceration; jail officials said that role will be fully funded through opioid-settlement monies and will be eliminated if that funding is not available.

Public-safety and administrative offices received a mix of small raises and new positions intended to address recruitment and workload pressures. The Human Resources deputy director was approved for a $2,580 raise; Information Technology approved modest market adjustments for a systems administrator and a support specialist after countywide IT projects; a part-time training coordinator was created for emergency-management/EMS trainings; and the recycling office increased a compliance officer base rate to $19 an hour to aid recruiting.

The public defender secured a state grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to pay retention incentives for the chief public defender and three full-time public defenders. Public Defender Larry Keith said the grant money is paid as a one-time incentive at year-end, does not change annual salaries or the county's COLA calculations and will not affect the county general fund.

Several actions were explicitly funded outside the general fund. County administrator Joe Venasco and staff explained that some raises and stipends will be paid from opioid-settlement accounts; the board approved a $3,287 opioid-funded increase for the deputy chief clerk and a $5,000 nonrestricted opioid allocation for the county solicitor for additional work on opioid-related litigation and trust administration. Health and developmental services requested new, state-funded positions and salary adjustments for nonunion staff that the director said are fully paid by state dollars.

The board recorded unanimous or near-unanimous roll-call votes on the items presented; no substantive public comment was offered at either public-comment window. The board recessed briefly for an executive session on personnel and returned to complete the remaining agenda items before adjourning.

Votes at a glance
- Resolution 33: Create part-time law clerk position at $20/hr; approved.
- Resolution 34: Standardize judicial secretary/assistant pay and specified increases; approved (effective 01/01/2026).
- Resolution 35: Create personal assistant positions for four district judges (base $40,975); approved.
- Resolution 36: Create joint courtroom law clerk (Courts 3 & 4) at $80,000; approved.
- Resolution 37: Create assistant central court director (reclassification, $40,975); approved.
- Resolution 38: Chief detective $7,500 increase under Chiefs Act (retroactive 06/01/2025); approved.
- Resolution 39: ADA reassignments and salary adjustments (net savings ~$3,255.88); approved.
- Resolution 40: Replace captain with detective (union) to save $7,500; approved.
- Resolution 41: Treatment counselor raises ($3,000 each); approved.
- Resolution 42: Reclassify/admin staff at jail (three positions); approved.
- Resolution 43: Jail staff stipends totaling $7,500 (paid in December); approved.
- Resolution 44: Forensic peer navigator funded by opioid settlement; approved.
- Resolution 45: Public defender retention incentives via state grant; approved.
- Resolution 46: Deputy HR director raise $2,580; approved.
- Resolution 47: IT staff market adjustments; approved.
- Resolution 48: Part-time training coordinator (<20 hrs) for public safety; approved.
- Resolution 49: Recycling compliance officer rate to $19/hr; approved.
- Resolution 50: Assistant tax claim director (promote), abolish bookkeeper (no net staff change); approved.
- Resolution 51: State-funded Health & Developmental Services positions and raises; approved.
- Resolution 52: Waiver manager (state-funded, $51,250); approved.
- Resolution 53: Deputy chief clerk opioid-funded increase ($3,287); approved.
- Resolution 54: County solicitor $5,000 from opioid nonrestricted funds; approved.
- Resolution 55 (amended): Planning director raise $6,706 with no 2026 COLA; approved.

What happens next
Most salary adjustments and newly created/reclassified positions were set to be effective Jan. 1, 2026, and several approvals explicitly exclude inclusion in the 2026 COLA calculations. Positions paid from state grants or opioid-settlement funds were described as contingent on continued funding; officials said those revenue streams are expected to continue but will be monitored.

Sources and attribution
Quotes and attributions in this article come from remarks recorded during the Lawrence County Salary Board meeting on Dec. 15, 2025, including statements by President Judge J. Craig Cox, District Attorney Lamacusa, Public Defender Larry Keith, HR Director Mike Ocobham, IT Director Bill Bordenaro, Health & Developmental Services Director Scott Baldwin, Tax Claim Director Brian Buric and County Administrator Joe Venasco.