Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus has filed a civil lawsuit against Allegheny County Council and County Executive Sara Innamorato seeking to stop efforts to place term limits on his office.
In April, County Council approved legislation that would let voters decide whether county row offices and council seats should be capped at 12 years or three terms in office.
Currently, the county executive is the only county office subject to term limits, restricted to three four-year terms, or 12 years total.
In the lawsuit filed Friday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, Kraus argues that council and Innamorato exceeded their authority under the Pennsylvania Constitution by attempting to impose term limits through local legislation.
Kraus contends the state constitution establishes four-year terms for the office of sheriff but does not limit how many terms an officeholder may serve. According to the lawsuit, such limits could only be enacted through a constitutional amendment.
“The Ordinance violates basic rules of statutory construction by being retrospective instead of prospective. Additionally, when the voters elected Kraus to his current term, they did so under a specific legal framework that allowed for unlimited re-election. Changing the rules mid-term disenfranchises the voters by impairing the public’s right to representation, effectively nullifying the votes that placed him in office for a specific duration,” Kraus said in the lawsuit.
Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Sheriff’s office, said in a statement that the filing is self-explanatory and there will be no further comment from Sheriff Kraus or the office at this time.
Abigail Gardner, an Allegheny County spokeswoman said the county had no comment during pending litigation.