HARRISBURG — A trio of prosecutors were coy when asked if Attorney General Kathleen Kane can do her job without a law license. Then again, none said they could survive in the same predicament.

“I would be hard pressed to think of one thing I could do” without a law license, said Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler, speaking to a Senate panel on Monday afternoon.

The state Supreme Court suspended Kane’s license in September pending charges filed against her by Montgomery County prosecutor Risa Vetri Ferman that she leaked grand jury secrets then lied about it.

Ferman said the first-term attorney general OK’d last year’s release of details of a stalled investigation into a former NAACP official in Philadelphia.

Three district attorneys — Heckler and two Democrats, John Adams of Berks County and Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser of Somerset County — were the first witnesses summoned by a legislative committee asked by Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarnati  to determine whether Kane should be booted from office.

All said the suspension of Kane’s license raises concerns about how her office can function, and it may jeopardize local efforts that depend on cooperation with state prosecutors.

Lazzari-Strasiser said worries that Kane’s legal woes will interfere with efforts to fight drug-dealers.

Law enforcement in Somerset County has been working on an 18-month drug investigation with the attorney general’s office. Lazzari-Starsiser said local cops’ authority to investigate across county lines derives from the attorney general’s participation in the task force.

Somerset County officials are concerned that their authority is comprised, she said.

It’s not the only case in which prosecutors are trying to gauge the fallout from Kane’s legal problems.

Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia County, pointed to a case in Union County in which a state prosecutor, Christopher Jones, questioned potential jurors about the controversy surrounding his boss.

The issue came up in the case of Matthew Swanger, 31, a New Berlin resident accused of possessing child pornography. The defense attorney and Jones asked jurors whether they were aware of controversies surrounding Kane. None said they would be influenced by Kane’s problems.

Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo said the office is not requiring its prosecutors to address the issue in court.

“It is up to individual prosecutors to take the steps they feel necessary to ensure an impartial jury is empaneled,” said Ardo, adding that Kane had “no role” in Jones’ decision to question potential jurors about the controversy.

Jones said in an email that a prosecutor is “compelled” to ensure there is a fair and impartial jury, which includes asking about issues involving the attorney general being reported in the media.

Swanger’s trial begins next month. Before that, the Senate committee is expected to release findings about whether Kane should be allowed to keep her job.

The attorney general has refused to resign, saying that almost all of her duties are administrative and don’t require that she have a law license.

While conservative lawmakers have called for Kane’s impeachment, there has been no meaningful move in the state House to begin the process. Kane has said, short of impeachment, the Senate can’t remove her without demonstrating that she is mentally incompetent.

Kane has been enmeshed in a web of controversy since her 2012 election, most of it stemming from her battle with former prosecutors who worked in the attorney general’s office before her.

Beginning in the summer of 2014, she released raunchy emails exchanged among former employees of the office and state officials, which she discovered during a review of the investigation that led to the arrest of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The Senate committee — of four Republicans and three Democrats — is meeting as evidence mounts that public faith in Kane is eroding.

An October poll by Franklin and Marshall College found that just over half the people surveyed said Kane should step down.

Gov. Tom Wolf, a fellow Democrat, has already called on Kane to resign.

Lazzari-Strasiser told senators on Monday it’s inevitable that Kane’s legal woes will arise in court.

“Any defense attorney that didn’t raise it would be considered ineffective,” she told said.

John Finnerty covers the Pennsylvania Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jfinnerty@cnhi.com.