Pa. court tosses attempt to keep ex-lawmaker from gaming board

Mark Scolforo

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2004 | 9:15 a.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A state judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general that challenged the appointment of former state Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy to the Gaming Control Board.

Commonwealth Court Judge James J. Flaherty said it was too soon to litigate the issue because Coy's selection by Democratic House Leader H. William DeWeese had not become effective.

Attorney General Jerry Pappert had argued the state constitution prevents Coy from taking the $145,000-a-year job until his term expires Nov. 30. The 11-term Democrat resigned his Franklin County seat Sept. 2 -- one day before DeWeese selected him.

Flaherty sidestepped the constitutional question by dismissing the case on grounds that the gaming law said no appointments are final until the person who named the nominee -- in this case DeWeese -- receives the background check.

A state police spokesman said Monday that Coy's report was nearly complete.

"A final and effective appointment of Coy to the Gaming Control Board is an event that may never occur and, therefore, the issues raised by the attorney general in his complaint ... are not ripe for consideration," Flaherty wrote Friday in an opinion made public Monday.

Spokesman Sean Connolly said Pappert will appeal, asking the state Supreme Court to review it on an expedited basis.

Coy believes he was eligible for appointment once he resigned from the Legislature, said his lawyer, Bruce D. Foreman.

"It's up to the attorney general to decide what they're going to do -- if, at the time that Jeff Coy's appointment becomes final, they want to engage in this technical legal battle or not," Foreman said.

The seven-member Gaming Control Board will regulate as many as 61,000 slot machines at racetracks, resorts and stand-alone parlors that were approved by the Legislature in July. Six nominees are pending with the seventh, the chairman, still to be named by Gov. Ed Rendell.