The Attorney General’s Office is seeking the computers, according to court documents, as part of an investigation into allegations that the Lancaster County coroner gave his password to one or more Intelligencer Journal reporters, allowing them access to a restricted law enforcement Web site.

Lancaster Newspapers surrendered four of its computer hard drives in March after an earlier court battle, but balked at a more recent court order demanding two more computers. It was given a deadline of Aug. 25 to turn over the computers or face a fine of $1,000 a day, according to court documents.

The state Attorney General’s Office has until Wednesday to file a response to Lancaster Newspapers’ emergency petition, according to a department spokesman. The state Supreme Court then will review the matter and make a decision, probably by the end of the week.

Lancaster Newspapers complained that such searches violate its rights under the First Amendment, Federal Privacy Protection Act, and the Pennsylvania Shield Law for journalists.

The Intelligencer Journal is owned by Lancaster Newspapers Inc, the parent company of the Lancaster New Era and the Sunday News. Each newspaper has separate and independent staffs.

No charges have been brought against anyone, including the coroner, Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, or any employees of Lancaster Newspapers.

In addition to First Amendment issues, attorneys for the newspaper object to having the matter brought before a statewide investigative grand jury.

William A. DeStefano, the Philadelphia attorney representing the newspaper, wrote in his court petition that the matter “does not involve organized crime, public corruption, or any activities occurring outside of Lancaster County.

“This investigation involves nothing more sinister than whether the Lancaster County Coroner authorized news reporters to access his section of a county-wide law enforcement Web site so that they might obtain the same information of public interest that he has given them in person or by telephone,’’ DeStefano added.

Kevin Harley, spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett, noted that the law prohibits him from commenting on anything before an investigative grand jury.

Only court documents, such as the ones filed before the state Supreme Court, are open to the public.

In those earlier court documents, prosecutors promised the judge that it would use special forensic equipment to scan newspaper computers only for material relevant to the Lancaster County-Wide Communications’ Computer Assisted Dispatch Web site.

The alleged security breach came to light one year ago when local officials discovered the restricted Web site had been accessed from a newspaper computer between 3 and 11 p.m., the designated working hours for Intelligencer Journal staff members.