MIDDLEBURG — Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association Executive Director Michael Piecuch has confirmed he’s interested in succeeding Snyder County District Attorney Michael Sholley early next year.
Piecuch, who lives in Selinsgrove with his wife and three children, said he’s spoken to Snyder-Union President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr.
“I’m a career prosecutor who has a deep interest in criminal law and public service,” he said Friday. “Being district attorney would be a culmination of that.”
Woelfel and Sholley will begin reviewing applications for the post as soon as Sholley is sworn-in as court of common pleas judge Jan. 4.
Woelfel said he hopes by the end of January to name a successor to fill the seat through the end of 2010, when a November election would determine who would serve the remaining two years of the term.
As executive director of the state association, Piecuch is responsible for the public policy, advocacy and outreach priorities of the state’s sixty-seven district attorneys.
After graduating from Albany (N.Y) Law School in 1993, Piecuch served as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia and later as a deputy attorney general at the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
He’s also worked as chief of staff for House Speaker Dennis O’Brien, majority chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, and counsel to the Minority leader of minority leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Referring to the unique situation the county judges have in filling the district attorney position and the differing interpretations of the statute, Piecuch said he’s pleased to be among a group of well-qualified candidates.
“This is not a campaign,” he said. “I know the others who are interested, and it’s a good thing. The best situation is for the judge to have a difficult situation. It only benefits the community.”
So far only Piecuch and Snyder Countys chief public defender John Reed, who challenged Sholley for the office in 2007, have publicly said they’re interested in the job.
Woelfel said Friday that one other person expressed interest, but has asked not to be identified.
Although there are several potential candidates living in Snyder County, one name that’s making the rounds in legal circles is Frank Fina, chief deputy attorney in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and former federal prosecutor.
A resident of Selinsgrove, Fina served as a Union County assistant district attorney in the early 1990s.
A recent call to his Harrisburg office to confirm any interest he may have in the Snyder County job was not returned.
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