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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has affirmed a trial court decision upholding the appointment of Marion O'Malley as district attorney of Susquehanna County and rejecting a former county prosecutor's attempt to assume the role.

Last April, Centre County Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge David E. Grine dismissed attorney William Urbanski's lawsuit seeking to supplant O'Malley as district attorney, in a struggle over who should replace the county's previous elected top prosecutor, Robert Klein, who died in late 2017. The trial court found Urbanski, who had been first assistant under Klein, failed to meet the law's residency requirement before he took the oath of office at the beginning of the year.

In a per curiam order April 26, the high court affirmed the ruling.

The Supreme Court had previously dealt with the issue when it declined to grant an emergency appeal by Urbanski just days after O'Malley's appointment in January 2018. But Grine's ruling marked the first time a court substantively reviewed the merits of Urbanski's claim.

According to Grine, although the law allows for the office's first assistant to become the county's district attorney if the position is vacated, the first assistant is also legally unable to assume the post if he or she did not live in the county for the year before assuming office.

“The petitioner is unable or unqualified to become district attorney since he did not reside in the county for a year prior to when he would have been officially fixed or appointed by operation of the law as district attorney,” Grine said.

Grine ultimately determined that, with Urbanski unable to hold the position, Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jason Legg's decision to appoint O'Malley as the county's lead prosecutor was therefore lawful.

“The court has not received any evidence or testimony demonstrating that [O'Malley] does not meet the requisite qualifications,” Grine said.

O'Malley's attorney, Matthew Haverstick of Kleinbard in Philadelphia, reached for comment on the Supreme Court's April 26 ruling, said, “We're glad the court confirmed what we believed all along. Whoever advised Mr. Urbanski that pursuing this action was a good idea did a disservice to the citizens of Susquehanna County.”

Urbanski's attorney, Bruce L. Castor Jr. of Rogers Castor, could not immediately be reached for comment on the high court's ruling.

The dispute between Urbanski and O'Malley began after Klein, the county's last elected district attorney, died Dec. 27, 2017, following a battle with cancer.

Following Klein's death, Urbanski, who had been first assistant under Klein, sent a letter to Legg telling him that he had become the district attorney of the county pursuant to 16 P.S. Section 1404(b), which says that “in a county of the fourth through eighth class, the first assistant district attorney shall become district attorney” if any vacancy occurs. That portion goes on to say, “If the first assistant district attorney is unwilling or unable to serve, the judges of the court of common pleas shall fill the vacancy by the appointment of a competent person.”

Legg, however, declined to swear Urbanski in to the position, finding instead that Urbanski failed to meet the residency requirement. But, despite Legg's holding, Urbanski had Luzerne County Magisterial District Judge James J. Haggerty administer the oath of office Jan. 1, 2018.

In the meantime, Legg reached out to the Susquehanna Bar Association looking for applicants to fill what he deemed to be the vacant district attorney position, and on Jan. 5, the judge appointed O'Malley.

Three days later, Urbanski filed an emergency action with the Supreme Court, arguing that he had not been given a proper hearing on the issue and that the justices should determine him to be the county's top law enforcement officer. After the justices declined to take up the case, Legg swore O'Malley in as the county's district attorney, and Urbanski sued her soon after.