HONESDALE PA — More than 200 years of tradition went by the boards last week when the Wayne County Commissioners approved the abolishment of the two county jury commissioners’ positions.

The change came in response to recent state legislation allowing individual counties to decide the future of these positions.

By the decision, incumbents Tricia Biondo and Judy Romich will lose their $8,880 positions and associated benefits when their current terms expire at the end of this year.

Neither Biondo nor Romich appeared at the commissioners’ September 8 meeting.

Commissioner Wendell Kay, an attorney, said the decision had been made in consultation with President County Court Judge Raymond Hamill, whose office would take over responsibility for maintaining the court’s jury pool, the list of residents eligible to serve jury duty. He said the decision had “across-the-board agreement,” and would “save a little money.”

Commissioners Chair Brian Smith commended Biondo and Romich for their service, lamenting that the decision was the product of the “evolution of technology.”

Court and county history

As was the case in many large rural counties after the nation was created, the courts were a principal reason for subdividing them into smaller units, so residents could avoid days of travel to reach court in a distant county seat.

Wayne County originally was a northerly subdivision of Northumberland County at its creation in 1798, and then included the easterly and more populated lands of Pike County. The county court was established in Milford. At the turn of the 19th century, roads were few and travel from today’s Wayne County to Milford was difficult and time consuming. The problem first led to a relocation of the courts to the more centralized Hawley area, and eventually to the creation of a separate Pike County in 1814. Bethany was the first seat of the newly resized Wayne County, but lost that position in 1841, with the booming growth of Honesdale, the westerly terminus of the Delaware & Hudson Canal.

In other business last week, the commissioners approved the re-appointment of Margaret Coccodrilli, who serves on two volunteer boards. She will serve new five-year terms on the Wayne County Housing Authority, expiring in May of 2021; and on the Wayne Redevelopment Authority, expiring in July of 2021.

Smith credited Coccodrilli, a retired 25-year veteran of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, for the “wonderful job” she has done and her willingness to continue in these unpaid positions.

The commissioners also approved an agreement to allow Northeastern PA Emergency Medical Services’ use of space at Wayne’s Park Street Center for training purposes.