A senior judge has ruled that the Carbon County Sheriff’s office can utilize additional space in the courthouse until the middle of December.

Senior Judge Edward D. Reibman heard the case against the Carbon County commissioners, filed by Sheriff Daniel G. Zeigler last Friday. The mandamus complaint stated that the county had not “provided adequate accommodations for the sheriff’s office.”

The sheriff’s office is located on the first floor of the county courthouse, and staff had been utilizing open space that was available with the moving of the public defenders offices.

Zeigler said in the complaint that the reason for the filing was due to the commissioners failing to hear the requests for additional space to effectively carry out the responsibilities of the department; and that Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein allegedly threatened “the forceful removal of the clerical staff from these rooms.”

On Monday, Reibman ruled that the sheriff’s office can remain in the two additional offices, labeled rooms 108 and 109 until the close of business on Dec. 15.

On Dec. 18, the sheriff “shall utilize his existing office space at rooms 118 through 130 for the clerical and administrative workers and deputy sheriffs who had occupied room 108 and room 109.”

Reibman added that counsel and both parties will again meet at 10 a.m. on Jan. 4 for a settlement conference.

Zeigler said in an email Tuesday that he is satisfied with the decision of the court, saying that he “appreciates that the court recognized the unfair treatment of the Sheriff’s Office and developed a plan to address it.

“The Sheriff’s Office will fully abide by the Order of Court and looks forward to working with the County Commissioners to develop an appropriate and sufficient plan that meets the increasing needs of the Sheriff’s Office at the January 4, 2024 settlement conference before Judge Reibman,” Zeigler said in a statement.

Carbon County Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said following the judge’s order, “I welcomed the court’s order affirming the commissioners’ authority to allocate space and directing the sheriff to vacate room 108 and 109 no later than 15 December, the date that coincides with the commencement of active construction in an area already designated as limited access emphasized by the placement of a Zip Wall barrier and the instruction ‘HARD HATS REQUIRED.’ This is clearly an area in which no citizen seeking county services should have to enter or in which employees should have to transit and work.

“However, I am disheartened by the fact that after the sheriff claimed in his motion and complaint that it was ‘ … in the best interest of safety, relocate (administrative/clerical staff) outside the main sheriff’s office,’ he voluntarily offered, through his solicitor in the settlement conference, to return staff to their previous space, that so aggrieved him.”

Lukasevich noted that the commissioners had offered his department space at 76 Susquehanna St., the Administration Building, or rented space at 410 Center Ave. “This specific action, and the more general action of filing this complaint and then back peddling, has greatly undermined his credibility in this particular matter,” Lukasevich added. Nonetheless, it does not detract from our, the Board of Commissioners’ responsibility to provide adequate space for all employees with due consideration of space, time, financial constraints and competing priorities.”

He added that looking at the larger picture, that at least two of the commissioners have defended the office based on following the county code.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner also commented on the ruling, saying “When safety is a concern there’s no other decision than to vacate.

“From the beginning of the courthouse renovation the Sheriff’s Department was to be provided additional space on the first floor,” Ahner said. “We should not just look at this as additional space for the sheriff’s department but also that Room 108 and 109 would complete a security presence at every entrance on the first floor of the courthouse.”