Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        CONTACT:  Bill Patton

                                                                                                                                   717-787-4610

O’Brien measure signed into law
Counties will get needed financial help from state

HARRISBURG, July 13 – Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed legislation sponsored by Speaker Dennis O’Brien to meet the state’s obligation to pay a large share of the cost of county district attorney salaries.

O’Brien worked closely with the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania for two years to develop a solution to the need for state funding to reimburse counties for district attorney salaries.

“This new law will create a Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, funded by directing some revenue from existing criminal fines imposed on specified offenses to the account and adding a $50 fee charged on those convicted of felonies and misdemeanors and those whose cases go through Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition,” O’Brien said.

“This is a way for the state to meet its legal obligation to reimburse counties for 65 percent of full-time district attorneys’ salaries,” he said.

The Senate added language to the bill severing the linkage of salaries for Pennsylvania’s state and county judges to the salaries of federal judges, but O’Brien said that issue is separate from his push for using fines to pay part of the cost of full-time district attorneys.

The need for state funding became urgent when Act 57 of 2005 started the process for most of the state’s elected district attorneys to become full-time. Under that law, the state is required to pay for 65 percent of each full-time district attorney’s salary.

“Passing this law means that counties will not have to struggle year after year to get the funds they are owed to be included in every state budget,” he said. “Now there is a reliable, dedicated source of money to help counties pay for full-time district attorneys.”

By law the salary of a full-time county district attorney is $1,000 less than the salary of a common pleas judge. The Commonwealth’s current annual obligation for these costs is slightly more than $5 million.

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