Bucks court official fired over fake subpoenas

Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler. (Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel / Staff Photographer)
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler. (Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel / Staff Photographer)
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler. (Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel / Staff Photographer)GALLERY: Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler. (Sharon…
Posted: February 08, 2013

A Bucks County court official has been fired for creating two fake subpoenas that he used in personal matters - seeking a police report for his girlfriend and security tape footage from a company.

George Fox, a clerk with the Prothonotary's Office, was dismissed after an investigation by District Attorney David Heckler concluded that Fox had abused his position. Heckler, in a Jan. 29 letter to Prothonotary Patricia Bachtle, wrote that it did not appear that Fox violated a law.

Bachtle could not be reached for comment.

Fox wrote one subpoena so that his girlfriend could secure a report from the Falls Township Police Department, Heckler wrote. It was unclear why she wanted the report.

The other subpoena, according to the letter, was written so Fox could obtain security footage from an oil company to see how a plastic sign he had placed near the property had been removed.

Subpoenas are intended to be written in conjunction with court cases to collect evidence, but the letter states that neither of the subpoenas in question was related to any court action. The letter did not say when the fake subpoenas were created.

"What Mr. Fox did plainly constituted an abuse of the court's authority," Heckler wrote. "Mr. Fox has betrayed the trust placed in him as your deputy."

Attempts to reach Fox by phone on Wednesday were unsuccessful.


Contact Chris Palmer at 609-217-8305 or cpalmer@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @cs_palmer

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