Finding an attorney in rural Pennsylvania might not be as easy as one might think.

The Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board reports that 81 attorneys are licensed in McKean County — 38 of whom are deceased, eight who are retired and 31 who are active.

One is a judge, one is disbarred and two serve as in-house counsel. About a dozen of the active attorneys serve as full-time counsel for an agency of the state or county, and are not free to represent other clients, showing a problem that’s not isolated to McKean County.

“We are suffering from an extremely low count of local attorneys,” said Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer, head of the McKean County Bar Association and district attorney. “I know that there are job postings for district attorney’s offices and private law firms across Pennsylvania that remain unfilled.

“In fact, I was unable to fill a full-time assistant district attorney position and, instead, have filled that position with two part-time (assistant district attorneys) and that has worked fairly well.”

It’s a problem neighboring counties are experiencing, too.

Shaffer said, “As the district attorney, I am only involved in criminal cases so that is the perspective from which I am speaking; but I believe it is safe to say this is a universal problem.”

The problem comes to light often when a client qualifies for public defender representation, but a conflict of interest prevents it. Such a conflict might arise if more than one person is charged in a criminal episode, “and the public defenders’ office can only represent one of them because they may be pointing the finger at each other or the public defenders’ office represents a witness in the same case,” she said. Another attorney is appointed by the judge, and paid by the county.

However, Shaffer said, when no attorney can be found, the case is delayed.

To try to help remedy the situation, the fee for appointed attorneys has been increased in recent years to try to attract more interest.

“I know this problem persists in cases involving children who are involved with Children and Youth Services as well in the dependency courts,” she continued. “In those cases, there may be several court-appointed attorneys needed — for the child and for each parent. Of course, even with multiple children in the same family, there can be multiple parents, each one requiring a court-appointed attorney under the law.”

In cases where court-appointed attorneys are not required, like divorce or real estate, it’s difficult to find an attorney with the time to take the case, Shaffer said.

“This is a problem for litigants in cases,” she explained, as they “have a hard time finding an attorney and, even if they do, the attorneys will be so busy that they will not likely be able to meet with the party right away.

“The problem is compounded by attorneys moving to government or corporate work and removing themselves from private practice,” she said. “An attorney who works full time for the county or state or a corporation does not represent other parties.

“So, to the outside eye, it may seem like we have a lot of attorneys here but a significant portion of them work for the government or a corporation,” Shaffer said.

Attorneys have come in from out of town for court-appointed and for private cases. In criminal cases, there will be attorneys from Olean, N.Y., Warren and Erie who are seen often. Shaffer explained, “Because of the few attorneys available, the court is reaching out to attorneys farther and farther away. If a new attorney were to move to the area, they would have no trouble establishing a busy practice.”

Members of the county bar association, which includes private attorneys as well as those who work for the government or corporations, have been discussing the issue, Shaffer said.

“We all feel the need to ensure that people in our area can find legal representation — today and in years to come,” she said. “Our discussions have included creating a scholarship for students pursuing a law degree.”

She added that anyone with a friend or family in the legal field should mention McKean County to them as a consideration. Shaffer said, “We have openings in government offices and, I assume, they would easily find a private law firm or corporation if that is their interest.”