Schuylkill County commissioners and row officers were sworn into office Tuesday by judges Jacqueline L. Russell, Cyrus Palmer Dolbin and James P. Goodman.

Commissioner Frank J. Staudenmeier, 65, of Ashland, a Republican, first became commissioner in 2002. He's currently serving as chairman.George F. Halcovage Jr., 58, of Minersville, also a Republican, begins his second term in office. Gary J. Hess, 58, of Schuylkill Haven, a Democrat, is also beginning his second term.Row officers were also sworn in.Clerk of Courts Maria Casey, 51, of Minersville, a Republican, was formerly the county's First Assistant District Attorney. The previous clerk, Democrat Thomas J. Campion Jr., who was appointed in September 2014 by former Gov. Tom Corbett, decided to not seek election.Campion was appointed after Clerk of Courts Stephen M. Lukach, a Democrat who had held the office for 27 years, retired in April 2014 amid an investigation into financial wrongdoing. He has not been charged.Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court Theresa Santai-Gaffney, 54, a Republican, of Friedensburg, is beginning her second term in office.Gaffney's first term was marked by repeated unsuccessful challenges to a Pennsylvania judge's ruling granting equal marriage rights to same sex couples.Ann Dudish, 56, of Pottsville, won election to the office following the death of her husband, longtime Recorder of Deeds A. Matthew Dudish, in June 2014.Ann Dudish, a Republican, was appointed to the office in April 2015 by former Gov. Tom Corbett.Prothonotary David J. Dutcavich was sworn in to his second term in office. Dutcavich, 61, of Minersville, is a Republican who was first elected to the office in 2011.Controller Christy D. Joy was sworn in to his second term in office. Joy, 44, is a Republican who lives in Norwegian Township.Also sworn in Tuesday were district judges Anthony J. Kilker of Shenandoah and David A. Plachko of Port Carbon.