By CHRIS PARKER

cparker@tnonline.comAfter serious financial troubles were uncovered in a Schuylkill County row office this past year, commissioners on Wednesday took steps to tighten controls.They adopted a resolution that as of Dec. 19 will close 10 bank accounts for Adult Probation, the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills, the Resident Welfare Fund, the Drug Forfeiture Fund and an account in the district attorney's office.New accounts will be opened, and instead of requiring just the row officer's signature to make transactions, the signatures of the commissioners, the treasurer and the controller will be required."We're looking to align this properly with the county code and increase internal controls," county Controller Christy Joy said.The move comes after the discovery by the controller's office in March of financial irregularities in the Clerk of Courts office, which processes criminal court documents.Former Clerk of Courts Stephen M. Lukach Jr., a Democrat who held the office for 27 years, retired in April. No charges have been filed against him.The matter is under investigation by the FBI, the state auditor and state police.The "irregularities" included making car payments from a county account, which were discovered in Lukach's accounting and records management.Lukach is accused of spending thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to buy lunches, make car payments and buy electronics and tax preparation software for his own use.The irregularities surfaced during an audit of the Clerk of Courts' 2012 records, Joy said.In other matters, commissioners rescinded a decision to hire Deblin Inc. of Mechanicsburg to repair a bridge over Swatara Creek in Pine Grove Township.They then moved to hire another company, Heim Construction, that had bid on the project.The change came about after the county decided it didn't need to have the work done over the winter, and so did not need cold weather curing. The cold weather curing was included as an alternate bid. With that gone, Heim's base bid was lower than Deblin's. The move saved $22,823.Commissioner Gary J. Hess asked whether the county was within its rights to make the switch.Solicitor Glenn Roth said the contracts, awarded on Oct. 22, allow the county 60 days to make changes.