Solicitor's Office

Dauphin County Administration Building
2 South Second Street
4th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101

Telephone: 717-780-6300

The chief legal advisor for Dauphin County is the County Chief Solicitor, who plays a pivotal role as the principal non-law enforcement legal authority in the county. 

The County Code outlines their responsibilities, including initiating and managing legal actions where the county's interests, such as rights, privileges, properties, claims, or demands, are concerned. They lead the office responsible for representing the county in legal matters, advising the Board of Commissioners, various county boards, and departments, and performing other duties as required by law or delegated by the Board of Commissioners.

Their scope of work involves providing legal guidance to the Commissioners and any other county department or agency without their own legal counsel. This includes not only initiating and managing legal actions on behalf of the county but also defending it against lawsuits. Even when insurance coverage applies to certain cases, the Solicitor's Office oversees the litigation.

The responsibilities of the Solicitor's Office extend across a broad spectrum of legal matters. This includes, but is not limited to:
• coordinating with courts, county offices, authorities and boards; 
• offering legal advice to leaders of county departments; 
• defending the county in legal proceedings; 
• ensuring county policies comply with the law; 
• handling property issues, tax assessment appeals, and public records requests; 
• managing legal aspects of state and federal grants, and county programs; 
• interpreting legislation for county departments; 
• overseeing all contractual matters for the county; and 
• drafting and reviewing legal documents such as ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and providing legal opinions on financial matters, election advice, and guidance to all departments, county row officers, authorities and boards.

The current staff of the Office of the Solicitor includes:
• Attorney Guy Beneventano (Assistant Solicitor) who has decades upon decades of hard fought in-court motions practice as well as fierce in-court litigation experience.
• Attorney Natalie Burston (Assistant Solicitor) whose career began in the rough and tumble of litigation as an Assistant Public Defender in Dauphin County and is developing a depth of experience in Human Services legal matters.
• Attorney Matthew Owens (Assistant Solicitor) who likewise has decades of experience in complex litigation involving millions of dollars of liability or assets.

The Chief Solicitor/Solicitor General for the County of Dauphin is held by Justin James McShane, Esquire, F-AIC, F-AAFS. Attorney McShane was sworn into office after public unanimous vote of the Board of Commissioners during a public meeting held on 13 March 2024.
 
(Attorney McShane takes the oath of office as administered by President Judge Scott Arthur Evans of the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas)

Attorney McShane has:
• 23 years of litigation experience with innumerable contested trials (both judge and jury) as well as hundreds of contested hearings and many appeals;
• appeared and litigated innumerable cases before every judge in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas;
• been before not less than 32 county Courts of Common Pleas throughout this state actually arguing contested matters;
• conducted jury trials in 9 states including litigating at various stages many supremely high stakes Death Penalty cases and civil cases as well;
• argued innumerable times before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
• appeared and argued before nearly all of the judges and magistrates of the Middle District of Pennsylvania (federal court) as well as several in the Eastern and Western District of Pennsylvania;
• practiced before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit which is the federal court with appellate jurisdiction over Pennsylvania federal district courts; and
• was part of the team involved in the successful litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States of America in the case of Bullcoming v. New Mexico.

It is the mission of the Office of the Solicitor to be a facilitator for the goals and policies of the elected Board of Commissioners. It does not originate policies or actions. The office does not pre-canvas votes, whip votes or lobby for votes from the Board. We serve.


Weekly Public Comment from the Dauphin County Office of Solicitor

 

For your planning purposes, this will be a feature weekly.

Solicitor's Comments and Report