The Franklin County Judicial Center project is almost complete. Those who work and travel to downtown Chambersburg have watched the demolition and construction take place over many months. We will send an announcement when the new FCJC is "open for business". Many of the offices you use and interact with are in the process of moving. Here is a list of offices and their locations.

FCJC:

Common Pleas Judges (including judicial assistants and law clerks)

Courtrooms

Sheriff

Prothonotary

Clerk of Courts

Court Administration

Court reporters

Historic Old Courthouse:

Public Defender's Office

Courtroom One remains and functions as a courtroom

Courthouse Annex:

District Attorney's Office

Adult Probation Office

Juvenile Probation Office

Domestic Relations Office

Hearing Annex:

Stays as it is currently

Did you know that you can take a virtual tour of the new Franklin County Judicial Center? CLICK HERE to visit the county's website.

Franklin County Legal Services has released its annual report for 2020. CLICK HERE to read the report.

Dear Friends,

Despite last year’s challenges, Franklin County Legal Services’ light continued to shine bright in 2020. We were a welcome refuge and warm beacon to those in need. We are pleased to share with you in this Annual Report how Franklin County Legal Services provided hope and justice in 2020.

Low-income Individuals whose basic needs were at stake due to a civil legal problem received services. We provided direct representation, consultations/advice only, pro bono referrals to private attorneys, and assistance to self-represented individuals. We also regularly visited the Franklin County Jail to provide access to civil legal services for inmates. In addition, we began Know Your Rights seminars and a Detention Defense Initiative. We continued to offer Citizenship Exam Preparation Classes. All our services were provided free of charge.

2020 was another year of growth at Franklin County Legal Services. We expanded our staff to welcome a fourth attorney and a part-time immigration paralegal. 2020 also involved drastically changing our service delivery methods to keep our clients, staff/volunteers, and community safe from Covid-19. Our team was resilient and flexible. Some of our equipment was updated in 2020 which helps us to provide better services now and in the future. Thank you so much for your support of Franklin County Legal Services which makes the work described in this 2020 Annual Report possible

Phil Cosentino

Chair, Board of Directors

Gloria Keener

Executive Director

Join instructor Margaret M. Wood, senior legal reference librarian, for an Orientation to Legal Research webinar, this time on U.S. Federal Statutes. This entry in the series provides an overview of U.S. statutory and legislative research, including information about how to find and use the U.S. Code, the U.S. Statutes at Large, and U.S. federal bills and resolutions. Register here.

Join instructors Barbara Bavis and Robert Brammer for a Congress.gov Webinar. This webinar provides a basic overview of Congress.gov with a demonstration of how to conduct a search and information on setting up alerts for legislation, members, and saved searches. Recent enhancements to Congress.gov will also be covered, such as the addition of thousands of early American bills and resolutions to the site. Register here.

The Bench Bar Committee will be hosting a Judges' Panel via Zoom on Friday, October 8, 2021. We will not be scheduling an in-person conference this year, based on your feedback from our BBC survey.

The Bench Bar Committee is planning an in-person Bench Bar Conference on Friday, October 7, 2022.

The Franklin County Law Library and Franklin County Bar Association have changed the operating policy for our office. You are no longer required to wear a mask if you are fully vaccinated. Also, we will begin scheduling in-person CLEs and offering hybrid virtual/in-person committee meetings. Please see below.

The Franklin County Law Library is open. Mondays and Wednesdays are by appointment only. To schedule an appointment please call 717-267-2071.

FCBA members may access the Law Library after hours (if you have keys).

 * Disposable masks are available. Please inform staff if you are unable to wear a mask due to a medical reason. We will make accommodations for you to use the Law Library safely.

Conference room 1 will be available for members and non-member attorneys.

We are in the process of scanning in our historical paper documents. These include the memorial resolutions. Our website's memorial page is being updated to include all the memorial resolutions. You can find them in the "about FCBA" section or by clicking here: https://www.franklinbar.org/about-fcba/memorial-resolutions/

This is a work in progress. We plan to have all the memorial resolutions uploaded by September.

The complete member list is updated quarterly and available to you and your staff two ways.

You may download and print a PDF from the members' section of our website (log in required). Or you may email Amelia at director@franklinbar.org to receive a PDF or excel document anytime.

Is it really August 2021?! Where did the last year (and a half!) go? On March 18, 2020, President Judge Meyers issued the first of many orders regarding COVID-19. At the close of business on March 19, 2020, the courts were closed to the public. As the days progressed, access to the courts and due process was in most of our minds. The restrictions allowed for essential functions, but jury trials were suspended, a shift was made to have issues heard by Advanced Communication Technology (ACT), and we all learned to make virtual backgrounds for our “Zoom hearings”. Eventually we all came back to the court room, masking and with social distancing. At times things took a step back due to illness or a concern for public safety – row offices closed for a week or two, hearings were rescheduled, and more supplemental orders were issued. Most of all, the trials and tribulations of how we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically when it came to the legal profession and our system of legal rights, were written in memorial for future generations to see and learn – whether it was through court orders, this publication, or the news. But enough of this century’s pandemic.      

Our community has seen pandemics before, most notably the 1918 influenza pandemic. Although there were globally four waves of this pandemic, the Franklin County area only had one swift and deadly wave. On November 14, 1918, The Public Opinion, our local periodical gold mine of history, gave an overview of what occurred in the community. Even back then, protective measures were taken. The State Health Department issued a general quarantine order, and our Local Health Board closed all the churches and schools. Even the businesses were forced to close. Everyone stopped for a month. Even the court stopped, like our March and April of 2020! For those wondering, the Honorable William Rush Gillian (pictured) was the President Judge during the pandemic.  

Back in 1918, the court met in quarterly sessions. On September 27, 1918, eleven days prior to the October quarterly session, the first death of influenza occurred in Chambersburg. The pandemic hit the area hard and fast that October. On October 8, 1918, there were 700 reported flu cases with over 2,000 by October 10. Therefore, the court’s actions during this time were prudent. Per the Public Opinion, for the October 1918 term, there were 109 cases listed. Many are like those of today – aggravated assault and battery, larceny, receiving stolen goods, operating a motor vehicle without consent of owner, operating a motor vehicle when intoxicated, furnishing alcohol to a man of known intemperate habits. Some we no longer have – desertion and maintenance, fornication, and bastardy. This term was not going to start on time. On October 4, 1918, the state health department issued a general quarantine order which forbid all public gatherings and closed all theaters and saloons. The local health board decided that area churches and the schools should be closed as well. Because of the pandemic tightening its grip on the county, the October 8, 1918 session met and immediately adjourned until November 18, 1918. 

Even with this order, the 39^th Judicial District remained operational.   Nineteen-Eighteen was an election year and in November 1918 orders for the Appointment of Assistant to the Prothonotary for the election returns was documented in court records. Although the quarterly session was suspended, the county still needed legal services. The court records for this period, found at the Franklin County archives, show that petitions for lunacy (incapacity) were filed, motions were filed, and election officials resigned. On September 14, 1918, an application for charter for “The John H. Shook Home for the Aged” was filed with publication occurring on October 7, 1918 and a degree issued on October 15, 1918. Another local institution, the “Rhodes Grove U.B. Camp Meeting Association” was chartered, and the decree was issued on October 7, 1918. The Franklin Repository, Valley Spirit, and Public Opinion, the newspapers of that time, were used for publication and the news. Typewriters were not prevalent, and most documents were handwritten, save for the local periodicals. For inquiring minds, the court stenographer in 1919 (a year later) received $150 monthly and 15 cents a word for handscribing his notes.

The pandemic’s grip left the area, but not without issue. The 1918 pandemic left 108 orphans or part orphans in Chambersburg.  With a population of about 15,000, Chambersburg had an estimated 3,000 cases. Volunteer nurses, emergency hospitals, community kitchens, and hospital trains all were part of the struggle to combat and survive the 1918 pandemic. Their efforts were fruitful! On November 9, 1918, the ban on public gatherings was lifted, churches returned to in person services on November 10, 1918, and by November 11, 1918 schools reopened.  By December 1918, if not earlier, hearings were once again held in open court and the pandemic no longer had a grip on the county.  Just like today, life in Franklin County continued that December of 1918 – with all its vices as well, but that’s for another article.