A home rule charter county cannot seek to abolish elected offices and move them to appointed positions without first electing a government study commission to examine the proposed changes, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The court unanimously ruled in Pilchesky v. Lackawanna County that the proposed changes constituted a change in the form of government and not simply an amendment to the home rule charter, and therefore the commissioners needed to first elect a government study commission. The decision reverses a three-judge trial court panel and the Commonwealth Court, which found that the ordinances could be put to a vote without first performing a study.
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