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JUNIATA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

* The position: The Juniata County district attorney serves a four-year term and the salary is $160,850 a year. The Juniata County Treasurer Sandra King said traditionally the state reimburses the county 65 percent of the salary. However, to date, the county has not received state reimbursement for the position for 2008 or 2009.

* The process: On Thursday, the four Republican candidates for the Juniata County district attorney position will be interviewed by the Juniata County Republican Executive Committee. Several Executive Committee members will not participate, having recused themselves from the process due to conflicts of interest. At 5 p.m. on Saturday, the candidates will be given the opportunity to speak to the public at a picnic at the Lost Creek Community Park in McAlisterville. Featured speaker will be former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, who is running for U.S. Senate. At 7 p.m. on Aug. 20 at the Walker Grange in Mexico, Pa., the Juniata County Republican Committee will nominate a candidate who will run in the November municipal election.

LEWISTOWN - On Aug. 20, the Juniata County Republican Committee will nominate a candidate to run in the November municipal primary for the position of Juniata County district attorney.

Choosing a candidate would normally have fallen to Juniata County's voters in the spring primary, but a unique set of circumstances has given a twist to the political process.

Four candidates have announced they are seeking the nomination: Brian "Bo" Baker, Randall Zimmerman, Cory Snook and John Mort, current district attorney. Mort was the assistant district attorney and took over the chief prosecutor position recently when former District Attorney Kenneth Mummah was elected to serve as a common pleas judge for Juniata/Perry counties. Mummah secured both party nominations for judge in the May primary, defeating Magisterial District Judge Dan McGuire and Perry County Attorney Kevin Prosser.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell recently announced the Senate confirmation of Mummah, who was not slated to take the oath of office until January 2010. The confirmation by the Senate and early appointment by Rendell was necessary because of some recent shifting of judges in the district.

Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp retired in 2008 as the district's president judge and then Kathy Morrow was subsequently sworn in as the district's president judge. Rehkamp, as well as Senior Judge Keith B. Quigley, have been presiding over cases periodically to help with the case load. However, Quigley is set to take a position on the Commonwealth Court, and the 41st district, which encompasses Juniata and Perry counties, requires two full-time judges. Common pleas judges serve 10-year terms.

Mummah was first elected as district attorney in 2003 and was midway through serving his second term when he announced his intention to run for judge, and because this scenario played out during a municipal election year, both political parties are tasked with nominating a candidate to replace Mummah. Had this not happened during a municipal election year, Mort would have served out the balance of Mummah's term, which would have ended in 2011.

Mort has 19 years of experience as a prosecutor in Juniata County, where he served as assistant district attorney under several former chief prosecutors.

"I certainly think that qualifies me for the position," Mort said.

When Mort was recently sworn in as acting district attorney, one of things he was required to do by law was give up his private practice, which he said no other candidate is required to do or has done.

Mort said serving as district attorney is very rewarding and it is a position that he is seriously committed to.

"This is more satisfying than doing defense work ... it is a much better fit for me," Mort said, reflecting on his past experience as a prosecutor.

Candidate Snook also has several years of experience as a locally practicing attorney, and he also is a member of the Juniata County Republican Committee.

"I offered my resignation to the committee before the process began," Snook said. "They said it wasn't necessary and I have recused myself from the (selection) process."

When asked why he would like to serve as district attorney, Snook said, "At this point (in the process,) I would prefer to allow the committee to do their job."

"If I am selected, I would be more than happy to elaborate," Snook said.

Committee Chair Richelle Strawser said Snook's situation is not unusual because there are several other committee members who are in a similar situation and have chosen to recuse themselves from the selection process, including Mort and other elected officials who are automatically on the committee but may have a conflict of interest.

Candidate Baker said he could trace his desire to serve as the county's chief prosecutor back to 1993, when as a undergraduate student at the Pennsylvania State University, he interned in the Juniata County District Attorney's office.

"That was the primary influence in my decision to go to law school," Baker said of working under former Juniata County District Attorney Ralph Germak.

"I have had a lifelong interest in criminal law ... the district attorney has the opportunity to do a lot of good in the community," Baker said.

Zimmerman said there are many reasons he chose to run for the position and he hopes that his reputation and 30 years of experience as an attorney in the community will play to his advantage when the committee votes.

"I have given people the best I can give them, as I have always tried to do over the last 30 years," Zimmerman said of his work in the legal community.

In addition to his private practice, Zimmerman also has served as a solicitor for numerous municipalities and other organizations.

The Juniata Democratic Committee has already selected their nominee, local attorney Don Zagurskie.

Between now and the Aug. 20 voting session by the Republican committee, the four candidates will have a handful of opportunities to court the committee and the general public.

On Thursday, the Executive Committee will meet to interview the candidates and at 5 p.m. on Saturday, there will be an opportunity for them to address the public at a picnic at the Lost Creek Community Park in McAlisterville. The former U.S. representative and now U.S. Senate candidate, Pat Toomey, will be the guest speaker. Toomey is challenging long-time incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter who recently switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.

At the Aug. 20 voting session, the full committee including members of the executive who have not abstained from the process will nominate the Juniata County Republican candidate for district attorney by rounds, with the candidate receiving the least amount of votes removed from the pool, until there is only one candidate remaining.

The Counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association said the voting session is not subject to the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act because the committee is not an agency but a private organization. It remains unclear as to whether or not the public and/or the media will be permitted to attend the voting session.