Schuylkill County Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. on Thursday faced a state House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts to testify at a hearing aimed at removing him from office for sexual misconduct.

The subcommittee will hold a voting meeting on the matter on Monday.

Halcovage is accused of sexually harassing four women who worked at the county courthouse. The harassment began in 2012, the year he was first elected, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the women.

Halcovage has denied the allegations.

Asked for comment, he said his attorney, Gerard J. Geiger, would release a statement.

The state hearing, to take testimony from Halcovage and others, was held behind closed doors. The names of others who testified were not made public.

The subcommittee convened at 9:07 a.m. and called roll. State representatives Paul Schemel, Joseph C. Hohenstein, Andrew Lewis, David H. Rowe, and Michael Zabel; Joshua D. Kail was on leave.

Schemel, who heads the subcommittee, said that due to the nature of the testimony, they were going into executive session, said Jennifer Fitch, communications coordinator for the state House Republican Caucus.

They then went into the executive session for the testimony, which lasted for about five hours.

Thursday’s hearing, held in the Capitol Complex, was the first in a process that began in January, when the subcommittee voted unanimously to begin an investigation authorized by House Resolution 99. That resolution was sponsored by state Rep. Jerry Knowles and introduced by him along with state representatives Tim Twardzik and Joe Kerwin on May 7, 2021.

It was passed by the House on Nov. 10, 2021.

Because Halcovage is an elected official, lawmakers are required to conduct an investigation and go through legal proceedings in order to remove him from office through impeachment.

For Halcovage to be impeached, the House would have to vote to remove him from office, and a trial would then be held by the Senate.

An investigation by the county Human Resources Department in June 2020 determined Halcovage violated the sexual harassment, conduct and disciplinary action, and the physical and verbal abuse policies.

Both the impeachment process and the federal lawsuit are wending their ways through the legislature and court at the same time.

The four women, identified only as Jane Does, filed the federal suit in U.S. District Court, Scranton, in March 2021.

In addition to the accusations of sexual harassment, it also alleges some county officials failed to stop the harassment and subsequent retribution against the women, and helped try to cover it up.

The retribution was the focus of an amended suit filed in October 2021. In that suit, two of the women allege commissioners attempted to fire them, and that two of them were accused of misusing sensitive county software to search personal information on a number of people, including Halcovage.

In addition to Halcovage, County Administrator Gary R. Bender, Human Resources Director Heidi L. Zula, Assistant County Solicitor/Risk Manager Glenn T. Roth, and Schuylkill County. Interim Human Resources Director Doreen Kutzler were also named in the suit. United States Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson, who is handling the suit, in May ruled the U.S. Department of Justice may join the suit. His ruling came after the state Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Jan. 14 referred the matter to Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Allowing the DOJ to join the suit give it the authority to exercise oversight over the courthouse to avoid any future complaints; review future complaints, write policy, and provide training.