Butler County’s jury commissioner situation just went from bad to worse.

The county commissioners voted six months ago to eliminate the jury commissioners’ jobs at the end of this year, citing cost savings. The salaries and benefits of the posts are budgeted at roughly $71,000 for 2013.

With about a month left in their unexpired terms, jury commissioners Clinton Bonetti and Jon Galante have been locked out of their office in the county building without prior notice.

Add to that the threat of unspecified criminal charges.

County President Judge Thomas Doerr, who issued the lockout order late last week, stated he’d been “advised by the (state) Attorney General’s Office that criminal charges may be filed” against Bonetti and Galante.

Judge Doerr’s order, issued unilaterally on his own motion, doesn’t say what type of alleged misconduct the attorney general’s office is investigating or what charges might be filed. Court administrators and Doerr aren’t talking because, they said, of the ongoing nature of the events. Neither is the attorney general’s office.

It’s difficult not to jump to one of two conclusions. Either:

n Criminal evidence was uncovered during routine paperwork associated with the transfer of jury selection duties from the jury commissioners’ office to the court administrator; or

n The two elected officials, facing the demise of their office and livelihood, were snared in a game of political “gotcha” while pursuing progressively more desperate attempts to hold onto office.

Jury commissioners in Pennsylvania are going the way of the buggy whip — they are no longer necessary because most counties use a computer system to select a pool of potential jurors.

While sound logic backs the decision to eliminate the office — and a 2011 state law gives counties the option to do so — the timing of the commissioners’ action was criticized because it followed a spring primary that included jury commissioner candidates on the ballot. In essence, the commissioners canceled an election.

The jury commissioners and their statewide organization exhausted their court challenges to the law, without success.

There will be no interruption in court activities because of the pending transfer of duties. December’s juror pools already have been selected, and the court administrator’s office is ready to assume the selection process in January.

The circumstances raise questions.

First, if there’s no anticipated interruption of services, why bother appointing temporary jury commissioners for a mere month? It would seem more fitting to close the office now, particularly if a criminal investigation is taking place there.

Second, if this does turn out to be a game of “gotcha,” what’s the point? There’s nothing to be gained.

However, if there is an allegation of serious wrongdoing, let’s hear it. It seems terribly unfair to deny Bonetti and Galante the opportunity to complete their elected terms with dignity without stating the nature of allegations brought against them.