Carbon County’s clerk of courts office is under investigation, officials said Thursday.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein confirmed that the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is investigating the clerk of court’s office.

In addition, the county’s insurance carrier, the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool, is conducting an audit of the office.

“There is very, very little we can say at this point,” Nothstein said.

He provided no other comments as it is an ongoing investigation.

Earlier this month, the county commissioners entered into an agreement with Lehigh County to use two staff members, Jill Herschman and Jordan Kocher, to help the office catch up with an extreme backlog of cases. Herschman and Kocher will be paid $15 per hour and will be under contract with Carbon from Monday through Dec. 31.

At that time, the commissioners aired their frustration over the mess in the clerk of courts office.

“We don’t really have a good sense of just how bad it is,” Nothstein said at that meeting, adding that the county is estimating that over $1 million in court-related fees are sitting in paperwork that has yet to be filed.

“You cannot believe the frustration we have right now with the system in general and what’s going on in that office.”

The commissioners said problems include positions in the office being left open for over a year, something only the clerk of courts could rectify; a hostile work environment; people’s driving suspensions being delayed indefinitely because paperwork not being filed with the state in a timely manner; inmates sentenced to state prison not being transferred because paperwork is held up; and warrants not being issued.

The clerk of courts office, as well as the bureau of collections, is being operated by acting clerk of courts Julie D. Harris, who served as the second deputy under longtime clerk of courts William McGinley, who retired after 28 years in the position on May 1.

According to state law, the acting clerk of courts position should have been given to the first deputy, but that position remains unfilled.

In addition, the county is waiting on the state to approve Francine Heaney of Nesquehoning, the Democratic Party’s nomination to fill the vacancy, an action that has, to date, not been taken up by the Senate and governor.

On Wednesday, Sheriff Anthony Harvilla told the county prison board that Herschman and Kocher are being trained to file the necessary paperwork for the transfer of inmates sentenced to state prison. There are 21 inmates currently in Carbon County Correctional Facility awaiting transfer.

An attempt to reach McGinley for comment was not successful as of press time.