The state office of Attorney General will decide whether or not Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage should face criminal charges stemming from alleged harassment of female county employees.

Critics have continued to call for the commissioners to ban Halcovage from the county courthouse until the investigation is complete.

On Wednesday, Schuylkill County District Attorney Mike O’Pake confirmed that his office had received the county’s internal report into allegations by female courthouse employees who said Halcovage verbally abused and harassed them.

O’Pake said he has since referred the case to the Office of Attorney General due to a perceived conflict of interest.

“For a sitting commissioner to be investigated by another elected official, me in the district attorney’s office, is probably not proper. It probably should be and is going to be handled by the attorney general’s office,” O’Pake said.

“I didn’t get into the facts of the case with them,” he said after speaking with a representative of the office. He said a formal letter of referral will be emailed Thursday and sent by regular mail.

O’Pake said the office agreed it would be a conflict of interest for him to be involved with investigating another county official.

The internal investigation, conducted by the county solicitor’s office and human resources department, found that Halcovage violated three county policies, including policies on sexual harassment, physical and verbal abuse, and conduct and discipline. The county solicitor who conducted the report was based on credible allegations, and if Halcovage was an employee and not an elected official he would be suspended and recommended for termination.

O’Pake said the human resources department provided him with a copy of the report. After looking at the report, he contacted the attorney general’s office and they both agreed that the AG’s office should handle any investigation.

O’Pake said his office did not do any independent investigation of the allegations.

He said the county’s investigation focused on whether Halcovage violated county policies, not whether he should face criminal prosecution.

“With the preliminary information I had, I felt it best suited for it to be determined by the attorney general’s office as to whether or not criminal charges should be filed,” O’Pake said.

At the courthouse

The District Attorney’s role in the case was first disclosed during Wednesday morning’s biweekly meeting of the county commissioners by Clerk of Courts Maria Casey.

Casey again asked Halcovage’s fellow commissioners to ban him from all county facilities in order to protect women who work in the courthouse.

She said that by involving the District Attorney’s office, county officials have indicated that they believe Halcovage committed a crime.

Casey said it’s normal practice in many workplaces that if an employee is accused of offenses similar to Halcovage’s, they are banned until they are found innocent, or rehabilitated.

“My request is that we treat this as serious county business. There’s nothing more important than protecting our employees,” she said.

County residents criticized the county’s investigation and Halcovage’s public statements in response to the allegations.

Ringtown resident Doug Litwhiler said Halcovage’s reported statement that the investigation’s conclusions were not impartial or reasonable was “a slap in the face to the taxpayers.”

Litwhiler said Halcovage would have, in his role on the county salary board, fired other county employees if they had committed his alleged actions.

“It’s time to step down, figure your life out, ride off into the sunset and say you know what, I screwed up,” Litwhiler said.

Jeff Dunkel also echoed the county solicitor’s point that Halcovage’s violations would have gotten a regular employee fired.

“The county taxpayers want to know why he is allowed to stay there when the average person in that courthouse, doing the same thing, would be fired. The county taxpayers are owed that explanation,” he said.

Others who spoke during Wednesday’s meeting said that the county should release more details about Halcovage’s accusers’ allegations.

Jerry Notaro of Kline Township said he has not seen any evidence of the allegations against Halcovage, and suggested that his alleged victims should testify under oath.

“George was duly elected by the people and was a convincing winner - he should not be asked to resign for no good reason without knowing what he’s accused of,” Notaro said.

Dan Daub, Schuylkill County Republican Party Chairman, encouraged the county to release its report, with identifying details about the women removed, so the public can find out what actually happened.

“I think unfortunately without that this thing is going to drag on for months and months, which is really unacceptable. As you can tell it’s a big drain on county government, the Republican Party as a whole and on our community as a whole,” he said.

Halcovage said he denies any allegations of sexual harassment or discrimination. “As stated in the past, I vehemently deny in engaging in any sexual harassment or any type of discrimination whatsoever and I will continue to proudly focus on and do the hard work necessary to serve all the people of Schuylkill County,” he said.

Amy Marchiano contributed to this report.