The Centre County Board of Commissioners has already rejected changing the district attorney's status from part to full time, but a cloud of controversy continues to hang over the issue as questions surface about the legal advice the board received about it.

Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar said the county solicitor had a conflict of interest when he gave advice that supposedly influenced the board's decision not to change the district attorney's job status to full time, Gricar said.

Although the board considered the solicitor's advice in its decision, it has refused to release his report, prompting The Centre Daily Times to sue the commissioners.

The CDT filed suit Thursday in Centre County Court to have the solicitor's written legal advice released as a public document.

Gricar has campaigned since his 1985 election to have his job status changed from part time to full time.

But the proposed change has never passed, largely because it would entail increasing the district attorney's salary from $40,000 to $79,000 as mandated by state law.

Since Centre County Solicitor James M. Rayback works for a law firm that does defense work, Rayback could not be an impartial adviser to the board on this issue, Gricar said.

Gricar's office has also tried to prosecute a member of Rayback's family for underage drinking, which created another conflict, Gricar added.

But Rayback and the commissioners on both sides of the issue disagreed with Gricar's arguments.

Denying that he had any conflicts of interest, Rayback said that even though some of his law partners were defense attorneys, one of his partners is a former prosecutor who has publicly declared his support for the proposed change.

Rayback added that he has remained firm in his position on the issue since 1988, before his relative came into conflict with Gricar's office.

Commissioner Denny Sciabica said he saw no conflicts of interest, and if he had, he would not have let Rayback advise the board.

The solicitor's opinion was only one of many factors that led him to oppose the change in status, he added.

Commissioner Keith Bierly, who voted in favor of the change, said he disagreed with Rayback's legal opinions. Rayback might be personally opposed to the change, Bierly said, adding that the solicitor had no conflicts of interest.

Board Chairwoman Vicki Wedler could not be reached for comment.

With respect to the CDT's lawsuit, Gricar said he did not expect that releasing the solicitor's reports would reveal anything about the supposed conflicts.

CDT Executive Editor Robert Ashley said his paper is suing because the solicitor's advice is a matter of public record since the board used it in making its decision.