MEETING MINUTES
August 3, 2015
Attendance
Present were: Judge Gray, Jennifer Ayers, Robert Cronin, Skip Greevy, John Person, Joseph Rider, Jeffrey Rowe, Thomas Waffenschmidt, Kevin Way, Meghan Young and Ed Mitchell.
Old Business
Access to the Courthouse/Cell Phone Permits
Security at the Courthouse is now being handled by the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Sheriffs are conducting the screening procedures and inspection of personal items. Attorneys have experienced inconsistencies in the manner in which the Deputy Sheriffs have responded to showing of cell phone passes. At times, attorneys showing cell phone passes are permitted to pass through security without being required to remove items from their pockets. At other times, attorneys have been told that the cell phone pass only permits the attorney to bring a cell phone into the courthouse but the attorney needs to go through standard screening and inspection of all personal items.
Kevin Way stated that the use of Deputy Sheriffs in place of a private security firm was not intended to change the manner in which attorneys were screened on admittance. He said he would check with the Sheriff.
Subsequent to the meeting, Kevin advised that the Sheriff’s position is that attorneys, even with cell phone passes, are required to go through the medal detector and have personal items inspected. They will not be required to be wanded and will be permitted to bring their cell phones into the Courthouse
Additional Protections From Abuse
There have been no local training sessions for attorneys in connection with the newly enacted “The Protection of Victims of Sexual Violence and Intimidation (PSVI) Act.” There are, however, PBI seminars available.
Court Calendar
The Court Calendar has not yet been published. It is anticipated that there will be three week civil terms for Judge Gray beginning January 11, April 4 and September 12 and for Judge Anderson beginning on February 29, June 6 and October 24.
2016 will be Judge Anderson’s last year as on the bench.
New Business
Arbitrations
The Court is implementing a new rule and procedure pertaining to arbitrations. There will be four days per month scheduled for arbitrations. There will be one panel per day which will consist of three arbitrators and one alternate. There will be four arbitrations scheduled per day. There should be 60 days notice of the scheduling of the arbitrations and the panel members.
There are presently 125 members of the Bar who participate as arbitrators.
New Power of Attorney Statute
Execution of Powers of Attorney under the new Act require three individual signatures. Two witnesses and one notary. None of the witnesses can be an agent and the notary cannot be one of the witnesses.
Mandatory Reporting of Suspected Abuse
The individuals required to make mandatory reports of suspected child abuse have been expanded to include all individuals who have regular contact with children. All such individuals are also required to have clearances from the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and Childline. There is an expense for the clearances.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be November 2, 2015 at noon in the Law Association Conference Room.
Respectfully submitted,
C. Edward Mitchell, Chairman