Luzerne County Coroner Jillian Matthews has resigned to accept a management position in the county District Attorney’s Office.
Matthews, who has held the coroner position since October 2022, will start work Jan. 24 as the new division chief of the vice/narcotics unit.
“We’re very grateful to have her,” said county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce. “She is an experienced drug prosecutor and will be a great addition to that unit.”
Prior to accepting the coroner position in 2022, Matthews had been supervising staff attorney for the Domestic Violence Service Center and previously worked as a county assistant district attorney for 16 years.
In the DA’s Office, Matthews was the lead prosecutor on more than 50 trials that included homicides, drug trafficking, assaults, theft and other offenses, officials had said. She also assisted law enforcement with investigations from inception to completion and managed office-wide mental competency cases and a caseload of 150 to 200.
Matthews also served as a special assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 2014 through 2017, where she assisted full-time assistant U.S. attorneys on various locally based drug prosecutions, a release had said.
She graduated from Iona College with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2002 and received her law degree from the University of South Carolina in 2005.
Sanguedolce said the division chief position has been vacant for an extended period, requiring a deputy to perform double duty. Matthews will supervise prosecutors working on cases involving drug trafficking and vice, which includes gambling and firearm violations, he said.
She will receive $82,000 in the position.
In comparison, Matthews received $65,866 annually as coroner.
County Judicial Services and Records Division Head Paula Radick has assigned senior field investigator/autopsy assistant Kaitlin Keating to serve as interim coroner.
Matthews’ resignation letter expressed gratitude for her time as county coroner.
“I am proud of the things we have accomplished as an office during this time and have had the privilege to work alongside some of the most selfless and dedicated staff in Luzerne County,” she wrote.
Matthews reiterated that sentiment Tuesday.
“A great opportunity with the district attorney’s office arose, and I am excited to return to that office as a prosecutor and division chief,” she said.