Feb. 17—POTTSVILLE — Schuylkill County commissioners Wednesday approved a firm for legal services as required for the recently approved settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The vote was unanimous.

Commissioners voted for a fee-for-service contract with the law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick, which has offices in Harrisburg and elsewhere.

The firm will be paid $380 an hour to do investigations as needed per the consent decree between the county and the DOJ.

"We have used an outside investigator in the past. But the consent decree was requesting that we bring someone on board to do that. The county decided to be proactive in all of this," county Administrator Gary R. Bender said in response to Commissioner Gary J. Hess asking for clarification.

Chairman Barron L. "Boots" Hetherington agreed the action was needed.

"We agreed to do this with the DOJ, and we are moving ahead with this," he said.

The county agreed to the settlement in January by a 2-1 vote that includes measures designed to ensure that employees are free from harassment in return for the government dropping its legal action.

The agreement stems from a federal lawsuit involving Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. and four other county officials.

Halcovage and the officials were sued in federal court in March 2021 by four female county employees who alleged sexual harassment and assault by Halcovage and failure to act by the county.

The suit by the women is still in Middle District Court, Harrisburg, and is not affected by the agreement, nor is the impeachment proceedings in the state House of Representatives.

The DOJ alleged violation of federal law, claiming the county subjected the plaintiffs to a hostile work environment and retaliated for the lawsuit.

Halcovage has denied the allegations and said in January that voting "yes" would mean he's "admitting to events that never occurred."

Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023