As of Monday, McKean County had received 29 applications for the
newly established second court monitor position.
Director of Legal Affairs and Human Resources Michele Alfieri
said it’s possible additional resumes could be submitted, adding
the county will be accepting those that arrive today due to the
Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance on Monday. There was no mail
service to mark the occasion.
The position was established at the request of Court
Administrator Joanne Bly earlier this month during a meeting of the
county’s salary board. County officials have indicated the court
system is currently overloaded with cases, which are spread out
between two judges.
The court monitor, otherwise known as the court services
technician, runs the digital recording equipment in the courtroom
and monitors the recordings.
While the job is a county position, it’s paid for through the
court system.
“All the resumes that are received will be forwarded to the
court administrator,” Alfieri said. “They (court officials) will
set up the interviews and we’ll help out in human resources.”
There was no word on when an individual could be chosen for the
position; that timeline is up to the court officials.
“While the position was created by the salary board, once that
happens it’s up to the department head to fill the position,”
Alfieri said.
The salary board is comprised of the county commissioners and
Controller Tom Ball.
In regards to receiving the 29 applications for the position,
Alfieri said county officials weren’t sure how many they would
receive.
“Sometimes you get a lot and other times you don’t get very
many,” Alfieri said. “We have never advertised for the position
before, so we weren’t sure what we would get in terms of a
response.”
Terri Dodge has been monitoring the recording equipment and has
been taping court proceedings since former court stenographer Diane
Cheatle’s departure last year.
Several other counties also use the recording method, including
Venango, Pike and Bradford, Bly said last November. With the
digital recording equipment, the court proceedings are recorded
onto a computer hard drive. If something needs to be transcribed,
it can be saved onto a computer disk and hired out for
transcription if necessary.
