As Daneri resigns as DA, his successor will be the first woman in that role in Erie County

As Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri resigns and leaves his post in an unorthodox manner, he has set up the District Attorney's Office to operate in historic fashion.

Daneri's hand-picked successor, Elizabeth Hirz, his first assistant district attorney for eight years and a prosecutor in the office for a total of 19 years, will be the first woman to hold the job of Erie County district attorney.

"I am very excited and honored to be able to serve in that capacity," Hirz said of being the first woman to fill the job. "I am looking forward to the new responsibility."

Hirz, 49, will fill out the remaining two years of Daneri's four-year term once Daneri, 62, resigns on Dec. 31 — a decision he announced on Monday.

Hirz's two-year nonelected tenure as district attorney will give her an advantage when she runs for the position in 2023, as Hirz said she will do. She said she wants to continue the legacy of Daneri, a fellow Republican who she said has been "a wonderful leader in our office."

"I have big shoes to fill," Hirz said.

As for making history as the first woman to be district attorney of Erie County, "she is a good one to set the pace," said retired Erie County Judge Shad Connelly, who hired Hirz as a law clerk in 1998, four years before she went to work as a prosecutor in the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Connelly, who retired in 2015 after 30 years as a judge, said Hirz, as a law clerk, wrote "some of the finest opinions" for him. He said she was "always well prepared in court" as a prosecutor, making her one of the best "in terms of presenting a case as I have ever seen."

"She is very fact- and detail-oriented," Connelly said.

Connelly, who was an assistant district attorney before he was elected judge, also praised Daneri as being "an excellent public servant" who was community-minded, built strong relationships with the police and stood out for his trial skills.

"He always did an excellent job in my courtroom," Connelly said.

Daneri said Hirz's skills as a prosecutor, her temperament and her "trust and loyalty" made her his choice to succeed him. As his first assistant, Hirz has been Daneri's second-in-command and a guide to the other prosecutors in the office.

"There is just no one else in this county who could come into this seat and do a better job," Daneri said.

Hirz's elevation to the top job will come with a big raise. As first assistant district attorney, her salary would have been $91,116 in 2022, according to the Erie County budget. State law requires that a district attorney earn $1,000 less than a Common Pleas Court judge in the county, putting the 2022 salary for Erie County district attorney at $196,119.

Keeping an office 'intact'

Hirz is deeply connected to Daneri and his predecessor, District Attorney Brad Foulk, who died in 2009. Foulk hired Hirz as an assistant district attorney, and she worked alongside Daneri, who was Foulk's chief deputy district attorney. Hirz was Foulk's deputy district attorney for a time.

Under state law, a county's Common Pleas Court judges select a new district attorney if a district attorney dies in office — a situation that led Erie County's judges to pick Daneri to succeed Foulk in 2009. Hirz was among those whose name also came up to succeed Foulk as the judges' pick.

Reviewing a career: Q & A with Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri

Daneri went on to get elected in 2011 and reelected in 2015 and 2019, running unopposed in each race. By 2013, Hirz had become Daneri's first assistant district attorney, helping to run an office of more than a dozen assistant district attorneys, nine county detectives and a large support staff of legal secretaries and other support personnel.

Under state law, a county's first assistant district attorney assumes the top job upon the resignation of a district attorney. That structure allowed Daneri to choose his successor.

Daneri said that, after he won reelection in 2019, he considered whether he would leave early, but wanted to make sure that Hirz was willing to take his place. His goal, Daneri said in an interview, was to ensure that the District Attorney's Office, under his successor, "is going to stay intact," in terms of what he had assembled.

In addition, Daneri said of the district attorney's job, "I wasn't going to do it for the rest of my life."

Daneri, a resident of Fairview Township, has worked as a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office for more than 20 years, including the past 12 as district attorney.

"I feel now is the time to pass the mantle of leadership," Daneri also said in announcing his resignation. "I have the utmost confidence in my office team. The prosecutors, county detectives and support staff are well-positioned to carry out the tremendous responsibilities of the office.

"I know they will continue to do the job in the same manner that I tried to do it — fairly, ethically and at all times seeking justice for the victims of crime, their families, and the accused."

Daneri, who is married to former state Sen. Jane Earll, said he has "no immediate plans to do anything" after he leaves office.

"I am certainly going to miss the camaraderie of a great staff, but also the courthouse environment and all the people who make it work, who make it happen," Daneri said.

He said he plans to remain involved in a number of the community projects he helped develop as district attorney, such as the Unified Erie ant-crime initiative. He said he values working with others in the community who share "a common purpose and a desire to get stuff done and make a difference."

"I would hate to just say, 'I am done,'" Daneri said. "I can't just leave that behind."

Police, others offer praise

Hirz, a native of Falconer, New York, in Chautauqua County, lives in Fairview with her husband and 14-year-old daughter. Hirz graduated from Grove City College and received her law degree from Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law in Ada, east of Lima. She was admitted to the New York state bar in 1988 and the Pennsylvania bar in 1999.

As an assistant district attorney, Hirz has specialized in prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse since 2004. She said one of her goals as district attorney is to build on relationships with schools to help improve the safety of children as they deal with constantly changing technology and other challenges.

"Kids are my passion," Hirz said. "Having a teenage daughter, that hits close to home."

Law enforcement officials and others praised Daneri for his work as district attorney and said they looked forward to working with Hirz. Both have been committed to giving a voice to victims during legal proceedings and in court, said Paul Lukach, executive director of the Crime Victim Center of Erie County.

"We will miss Jack but we love Beth," Lukach said. "We hope things will continue to work as the well-oiled machine that they are."

Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said Daneri has been "a terrific partner" with his department and other agencies on a number of initiatives, including the gun violence reduction strategy, Unified Erie, the Strengthening Police and Community Partnership and the Erie Police Athletic League.

Spizarny said Daneri was a dedicated public servant who could have easily just been the prosecutor of Erie County, but he chose to do a lot of additional things in the community that benefitted the citizens.

"He has taken a leading role in all of these groups, and his leadership will be missed," Spizarny said. "He will be greatly missed for all those extra things he has done for the community."

Millcreek Township Police Chief Scott Heidt said he and the other members of his department have always had a good working relationship with Daneri.

"He has always been available 24-7, not only for myself but for the department. He's very responsive," Heidt said.

Heidt said that, while he does not like seeing Daneri go, his department is pleased that Hirz will assume the duties of district attorney. He said Millcreek police have had a good working relationship with her as well.

The commander of Pennsylvania State Police Troop E., based in Lawrence Park Township and including Erie County, said he also worked well with Daneri.

"I've enjoyed working with him in my time here," Capt. Kirk Reese said. "We haven't always seen eye to eye on everything, but we always listened to each other and respected each other enough to come to a mutual decision."

Taking on 'a tough job'

Judge Shad Connelly, who supervised Hirz as a law clerk and then watched Hirz and Daneri from the bench as prosecutors, is linked to the two in another way. Connelly's daughter Erin Connelly Marucci was elected an Erie County Common Pleas Court judge in 2019 after working as an assistant district attorney for 16 years with Hirz and Daneri.

"Both are very good people, as well as good attorneys," Shad Connelly said of Daneri and Hirz.

He said Hirz's experience, which has included a long tutelage under Daneri, ave prepared her well to become Erie County's top prosecutor.

"It is a tough job," Connelly said. "There are a lot of facets that people don't see."

"She should do an excellent job," he said.

Staff writer Tim Hahn contributed to this report.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County district attorney Jack Daneri resigning Dec. 31