Meet Elk County's new district attorney team
RIDGWAY--It's been a few months since Attorney Beau Grove moved up the ladder at the 59th Judicial District in Ridgway from Assistant District Attorney to District Attorney following the retirement of Tom Coppolo. However, it still seems brand new to both Grove and his Assistant DA Peter Reith, who are excited about the challenges facing them every day.
District Attorney Beau Grove is a Ridgway native, born and educated in the Ridgway Area School District. After high school, he attended the Main Campus of Pennsylvania State University in State College, then moved on to the Widner School of Law in Delaware.
After graduation, he clerked for two Judges in Clearfield County, eventually working his way up to the Assistant District Attorney spot and the coveted First Assistant DA position.
In 2015 he opened a private practice and maintained that while being the Assistant Elk
County DA under Tom Coppolo until he closed it down when he was elevated to the District Attorney position in late 2022.
Assistant District Attorney Peter Reith is a Pittsburgh native, and a sole practitioner and has his law office in St. Marys. He grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school there before attending Pennsylvania State University's Behrend College. He then attended Duquesne University School of Law and graduated in May 2013. He worked for a period of time with the Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC firm before joining the United States Air Force, where he served as A Judge Advocate (JAG) from 2015-2022, being stationed all over, but the majority of his time was spent in Alaska.
Upon leaving the Air Force, he, along with his wife and four children, moved to St. Marys, and he opened a private practice in 2022, which is still in operation. His wife is from the area, so that was one of the primary
reasons for moving to Elk County, though he is enjoying small-town life after so many year of living in larger cities.
When asked, Grove and Reith identified drugs as the major challenge they face daily in their professional lives.
"A majority of cases in Elk County are drug-related. And it is disheartening to see repeat offenders, whom the court has given chances to like in-patient drug rehabilitation to once again be back in court," Grove
said. "Recently, a defendant attended the Maple Manor drug rehabilitation program five times and yet showed up back in the courtroom with another drug-related violation. It's very frustrating when you see something like that. But the successful rehabilitations we see make it worthwhile."
One thing that is also frustrating to them is that many prisoners in the Elk County Jail refuse to join programs that would see them going to work every day outside of the jail, where some employers are willing to take them
and would guarantee a job upon release from confinement, but no one wants to go to work.
"I would do just about anything to get out of jail, even if just for a few hours. So I really don't understand the refusal,” said Reith. "And looking at this from an outsider's point of view, it is interesting to see the family and friend relationships among the defendants, with parents and children both being brought up on separate drug-related offenses."
The new District Attorney Team is dedicated to pushing for justice
in the face of an almost overwhelming caseload, some backlog still resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown. They are pushing forward with aggressive offers and plea deals so that cases do not have to go to very expensive jury trials. They are also using enhanced probation, including home arrest with leg bands and the new Court Imposed Sanctions program to quickly dispose of cases when the defendants continue to violate the conditions of their release.
Both Grove and Reith are popular with their staff and coworkers, and the office is abuzz
with energy when one enters. Stacks of filing cabinet folders line the office desks, and it seems the phone never stops ringing, but smiles abound in the office on the second floor of the Elk County Courthouse. Besides Reith, there are a few new additional employees to the DA's office, but they fit in quite well, and both Grove and Reith credit them for making sure they are prepared for whatever may come up in court.
This interview took place on a Friday morning, but Grove and Reith were already preparing for the next Return
Day in Elk County Court on Monday, going through case files and making plea deals with defense attorneys.
The court docket on Monday the 13th is full of over 40 cases that must be brought before the judge to be disposed of legally, meaning a plea deal or preparations for a trial. As always, now that the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been removed, the public is welcome to attend the proceeding that will begin at 8:30 a.m. on February 13 at the Elk County Court House located at 300 Main Street in Ridgway.