At the April Chestnuthill Supervisors meeting it was announced that longtime constable, Grace Marks and her husband, Bill, who served as her deputy, had tendered their resignations and their intention to retire. Grace Marks resigned in a letter that she addressed to the President Judge of the county and copied to everyentity in Monroe County that would have an interest in the workings of a constable.

Shortly after the announcement, the residents of Chestnuthill petitioned the county's Court of Common Pleas to replace Marks.Judge Jonathon Mark issued an order scheduling a hearing to reviews applicants.Two applicants applied for the position and were at the courthouse on Tuesday morning, but Judge Mark was not ready to proceed with the appointment of a successor for Marks."Constable Marks resigned by letter to the President Judge," Mark said. "I don't know if that is the appropriate way to resign."Mark pointed out that a resignation is unusual. A constable is an elected position and generally a person will just not run for re-election or in some cases when a constable fails to perform their duties, they can be removed from office.Marks' six-year term would have ended in January 2020."Frankly," Mark said. "I am not sure that there is a vacancy."Mark also pointed out that neither of the candidates had complied witha part of his order that included steps to be taken by applicants.This included providing public notice about filling the vacancy, including a published notice in an area newspaper at least 20 days before the hearing.The two applicants, Adam Thieling and John Seminerio were both present at the hearing. Thieling is an employee of the township where he is in charge of buildings and grounds and is an assistant zoning officer.Seminerio said that he has 20 years of experience in law enforcement and EMS and has worked as a contractor for the U.S. Marshals Service."I am not taking any additional applications," Mark said. "These are the only applicants that made the deadline, so I am not opening this up for more applicants."Mark recessed the hearing and issued an order directing the applicants to place the notice in a newspaper and to bring some proof to the court that the position was truly vacant.Mark requested some statutory or case law to convince him that there was a position to fill. The order will be issued shortly with a new hearing date set.