The county received a number of inquiries about its lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine.

And according to Ben Holland, county controller, many are from people wanting to know how to donate and help offset legal costs.

The Butler County controller released guidance Monday on how interested parties can donate to the county's legal fund, which will finance costs incurred by the county in its lawsuit against Wolf and Levine with respect to the state's business shutdown orders.

“We started getting inquiries, both internally and externally, as far as how people could go about making a donation to offset the costs of the county's lawsuit,” Holland said.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, claims the state's business-closure and stay-at-home orders violated county residents' and businesses' constitutional rights. In total, four counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, eight businesses and business owners and four elected state and federal politicians who represent Butler County are named as plaintiffs in the suit. The legal action seeks to overturn Wolf's orders, as well as ensure better future communication between the state and local levels if another pandemic were to occur.

Holland said Monday he received questions from department heads with respect to both how one could donate and what the technical process for accounting for such donations would be. As a result, Holland released guidance stating interested parties could mail a check to the courthouse and signify the check's intended purpose by marking “Legal Fund” on the memo line.

The controller said the county has accepted donations in the past.

“It's not something new,” he said. “The Sheriff's office, to my knowledge ... from time to time, they'll have donations from the general public to support Bullet, the K-9.”

Kim Geyer, county commissioner, said she expects some of the other parties to the lawsuit — which includes Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, their elected officials and six business owners and businesses — will contribute to the final financial burden of the civil action.

“I think, when that time comes, we will have people from other counties that are involved,” Geyer said. “Participants, such as the other counties, will be making some type of contribution. That would be my expectation.”

Butler County is accepting donations to help offset the costs of its lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine over the state’s stay-at-home and business shutdown orders.- To donate, make checks payable to “County of Butler” and mark “Legal Fund” in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003-1208.