Three months ago, the state Judicial Conduct Board began an investigation into allegations that Pleasant Hills District Judge Mary Grace Boyle was using her office and staff to conduct her re-election campaign in violation of the state Code of Judicial Conduct.

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When Boyle beat two opponents in the primary election a few weeks later, the atmosphere in Boyle's office turned decidedly sour after she learned her office staff had talked to a state investigator. Boyle has refused to talk to the staff and has instead communicated with them by writing notes.

The relationship has deteriorated to such a degree that President Judge Joseph James of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court has ordered the employees transferred to other offices, effective Monday. Yesterday was the last day in Boyle's office for two of the three office staff.

Dolores Niedbala will begin her new job Monday at the South Side office of District Judge Eileen Conroy, while Kimberly Dady has been reassigned from Boyle's office to the court administrator's office in the Frick Building, Downtown.

The third staff member in Boyle's office, Darlene Gilboy, Boyle's sister-in-law, is on medical leave and was not affected by James' order.

To replace the departing employees, a member of Conroy's staff, Carol Prosser, is being transferred to Boyle's office. The second staff position in Boyle's office will be filled by a court employee who travels between different minor judiciary offices.

The transfers were "mutually agreeable" between Boyle, Niedbala and Dady because "it was sort of an uncomfortable situation on all sides," James said yesterday.

The Judicial Conduct Board investigation of Boyle was the main factor in the transfers, he said.

"It's a result of the investigation and the fact that the investigation is ongoing," James said.

An investigator for the Judicial Conduct Board has conducted several interviews with Niedbala, Dady and Gilboy, a fact that was known to Boyle, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The board began an investigation of Boyle in April after the case was referred to Harrisburg from the office of District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. The referral was made because of uncertainty by prosecutors in Zappala's office of whether the criminal side of the state ethics law can be used against members of the judiciary.

The ethics law was invoked against state Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Shaler, accused of using his office staff in his campaign, but John Contino, the executive director of the State Ethics Commission who directed the Habay investigation, has said he knows of no instance in which the law has been used against a member of the judiciary.

The Judicial Conduct Board's investigation centers on whether Boyle's reported use of her staff and Old Curry Hollow Road office for her re-election campaign violated the state Code of Judicial Conduct. Part of the investigation will examine whether there was violation of a 1998 state Supreme Court order that prohibits court employees from partisan political activity.

Investigators have been told that before the May 17 primary, the second floor of Boyle's judicial office was packed with campaign literature and signs and that a leased copy machine was stationed in her office for the sole purpose of copying campaign material. Boyle also reportedly directed her staff to make telephone calls to residents who signed a nominating petition of one of her challengers, D. Scott Lautner.

If the board determines there is enough evidence against Boyle, charges for violations of judicial conduct will be filed with the Court of Judicial Discipline. Penalties in the civil process range from a reprimand to removal from office.