Butler County is cutting expenses in conjunction with a hiring and purchasing freeze.

The county commissioners are starting the process by eliminating some of their own costs.

A vacant position in the county commissioners office won't be filled.

Sheri Morgan, the former secretary to solicitor Julie Graham, left in June to fill a post in the county coroner's office while an employee was on medical leave.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, said in an interview the solicitor's secretary post won't be filled.

Pinkerton said county department heads and row officers know they can only fill any vacant posts essential to their offices.

He said during Wednesday's commissioners meeting some scheduled trips by county officials are being canceled as well.

All three commissioners initially were going to attend a County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference in late November. Now, only Commissioner James Kennedy, vice president of the association board, will attend the three-day event.

Pinkerton estimated the county will save at least $2,000 by Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser and him staying home.

Pinkerton said he asked all county departments to send only one employee to any conference or seminar in the future.

County officials don't have a projected savings from the freeze, which includes capital projects.

"At the present time, I couldn't put a value on it," said Bill O'Donnell, chief county clerk.

Although O'Donnell was on a medical leave to recuperate from back surgery, he now will work a limited schedule.

At least one resident isn't impressed by the county's hiring freeze. Frequent commissioners critic Jim Eckstein said the county needs to cut jobs.

Eckstein cited Controller Jack McMillin's statistics showing about 100 new workers being hired by the county since 2000.

According to McMillin's office, the county in 2007 employed 846 full-time equivalent workers, up from 739 in 2000. Those numbers add part-time employees' hours to obtain full-time equivalents.

Eckstein bashed the freeze, saying the county could be doing far more.

"It's just smoke and mirrors," he said at the commissioners meeting.