BELLEFONTE — Ongoing litigation between Centre County District Attorney Stacey Parks Miller and county officials has caused the Centre County Board of Commissioners — Michael Pipe, Steve Dershem and Mark Higgins — to recuse themselves from the county Board of Election.
The announcement was made during the Jan. 31 meeting of the commissioners under the recommendation of county solicitor Elizabeth Dupuis.
The Pennsylvania Election Code states county commissioners also act as the county’s election board.
Parks Miller has announced her intention to seek re-election as the county’s top prosecutor. Her lawsuit, which was filed two years ago in relation to forgery allegations, is still being weighed in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This follows a dismissal of the case by a federal judge.
Dupuis said should Parks Miller’s name officially appear on the 2017 ballot, the commissioners, because they were named individually in the lawsuit, were in direct conflict serving as election board members.
Several individuals were named in Parks Miller’s lawsuit, including Pipe and Dershem. Higgins was not an acting commissioner at the time the lawsuit was filed so his name was not included in the lawsuit. In addition to Pipe and Dershem, others named in the documents include former commissioner Chris Exarchos, former county administrator Tim Boyd, former solicitor Louis Glantz, Parks Miller’s former paralegal Michelle Shutt and a number of defense attorneys. Judge Pamela Ruest was also named in the lawsuit.
President Judge Thomas King Kistler appointed Keith Bierly, Suzette Sims and Joseph Davidson to act as the Board of Elections.
“This is truly regrettable,” said Dershem. “I’ve been a member of the election board for a number of terms now, and this is the first time this type of event has ever happened in Centre County.”
Dupuis said the federal appeal could be resolved by the end of the year. The commissioners will not be able to act as the board of elections until there is a disposition in the case.
