Dallas City News

Southern Luzerne County residents should soon have access to some county administrators and sheriff department gun permits in a new annex the county is setting up in Hazleton City Hall, county Manager Romilda Crocamo said Monday.

Crocamo said she wants to ensure there are no issues with the gun permit system before the service is activated.

The addition of other offices will take more time.

She is set to meet with union representatives Tuesday to review their plans for staffing the southern county office.

County council voted in November to lease space in the city hall for $6,450 per month, or $77,400 annually, from Jan. 1 through the end of 2026, with options for four additional one-year renewals at a rate negotiated by both parties.

In addition to Crocamo’s satellite manager’s office and gun permits, the southern annex will house representatives of the recorder of deeds, register of wills, prothonotary (civil court records/filings), clerk of courts (criminal court records/filings), treasurer’s, assessment and elections departments.

Space is available in the building because the city police department relocated to another structure, also on Route 309.

Some of the offices set to open in the southern annex must be linked to state record systems, and the county information technology department is addressing requirements, Crocamo said.

“We just have some technical issues that we have to make sure are completed,” she said.

The county court system also planned to occupy space at Hazleton City Hall for probation officers to perform drug testing, a southern central court and the Hazleton magisterial district court office.

Crocamo said Monday those plans are still under review and may require the location of other space in the city to accommodate needs. If the square footage required by the county in city hall is reduced, the lease amount will decrease accordingly and require approval by council.

The southern central court would be modeled after one the county set up next to the county prison in Wilkes-Barre in October 2017.

Its central processing of magisterial-level criminal cases allowed streamlined scheduling and immediate access to all parties involved in the criminal justice system, including representatives of drug court and other diversionary programs, officials have said.

The central court in Wilkes-Barre only involves magisterial district judges in the county’s northern half, and Crocamo has said a counterpart in the south would bring those benefits to the southern end.

Crocamo said she is confident all added services will be in demand.

“People want access to these services. Everything I’m hearing is all positive,” she said.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.