Westmoreland commissioner calls for resignation, impeachment of Register of Wills

Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton and called on the state Senate to initiate proceedings to have her removed from office.

Hamilton was not at the courthouse on Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

A Hempfield Republican, she was found in contempt of court Tuesday for official misconduct as an officer of the court, misbehavior in the presence of the court and obstructing the administration of justice.

The order also cited Hamilton for failing to properly oversee the courthouse office where adoption, guardian, wills and estate records are processed and filed.

Hamilton will be sentenced on June 17, when she faces a potential jail term and fines.

“She should resign immediately or the Senate should take up articles of impeachment. Enough is enough and it’s time to end this,” Kopas said.

Erica Clayton Wright, spokesperson for Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said the Senate will review Hamilton’s case.

“We are evaluating the matter and would like to better understand the Register of Wills position before proceeding with any formal action in the Senate,” Wright said.

Little change noted

Despite claims by Hamilton that touted performance improvements, the judges said that in the weeks since her last court appearance in early April similar issues continue to plague the office all while the elected office holder remained consistently absent from appearing in person on the job.

She was sworn into to her third four-year term in office in December after winning an uncontested election last fall while she was under a court order to improve office operations and reduce filing backlogs that had plagued the Register of Wills Office since 2019, according to court records.

An initial court order was signed November 2022 by Common Pleas Court Judge Jim Silvis that required her office to meet specific filing deadlines and issue final adoption certificates for cases that had in some cases been completed months earlier.

A second court order was issued in January by Judge Harry Smail Jr. in response to ongoing delays, continued filing backlogs and renewed claims that work had been neglected by an understaffed office. Hamilton was required to take corrective measures.

During a court hearing in January, Hamilton contended that aside from health issues that kept her away from her courthouse office for the last six months of 2023, she was a constant presence in the Register of Wills Office. She testified she worked and supervised staff up to about 30 hours a week in her courthouse office.

Her top deputy and another staffer testified last month that Hamilton rarely worked at the courthouse where she appeared sporadically on a part-time basis and averaged about nine hours a week in the office.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli confirmed Wednesday that perjury allegations against Hamilton were referred to her office for investigation.

“It was investigated by our detective bureau and at this time no criminal charges have been filed. If further evidence is presented or another referral is made our office will investigate accordingly,” Ziccarelli said in a statement.

Still earning salary

Meanwhile, Smail, in a blistering opinion that supported the contempt of court finding against Hamilton, said a conservator temporarily will be appointed to oversee the Register of Wills Office.

Details of that appointment is still to be determined, including questions as to how the office will function with court oversight while Hamilton continues to serve as the elected officer earning an annual salary of $89,774.

It’s a situation that court officials and government leaders said is unprecedented in Pennsylvania.

Attorney Wes Long, who represented the Register of Wills Office during last month’s contempt of court hearing, said effective oversight of the office will depend on how a conservator’s role is structured by the judges.

“I’ve never encountered this before, but it is a workable arrangement the judges can craft. I think it would be difficult, but it depends on how the judges put it together and how it is implemented,” Long said.

County leaders said those difficulties can be avoided if Hamilton resigns or is removed from office.

“We have no idea what this will cost us,” Kopas said. “We are completely hamstrung, and that is the most frustrating part of this that row officers like the Register of Wills has no responsibility for the finances of county government. We have no authority over individual elected officers. The decent and honorable thing for her to do is resign.”

Commissioner Doug Chew declined to call for Hamilton’s resignation.

“I would hope she performs the duties of the office with the utmost seriousness as it deserves,” Chew said. “I will leave it up to her, for her to decide and for the people who elected her to consider her future. She has to make a decision that recognizes the importance of her office to the 350,000 people who live in Westmoreland County.”

Commissioner Sean Kertes could not be reached for comment.

County leaders in 2018 called on state lawmakers to impeach then Sheriff Jonathan Held, who at that time was awaiting trial on theft allegations related to his reelection campaign as well as operational concerns that included numerous civil lawsuits filed against his office related to personnel and policy actions.

Commissioners sent a formal request to state lawmakers calling for them to begin efforts to oust Held from office. No impeachment effort commenced, but voters ousted Held from office in 2019, and he eventually pleaded guilty in 2022 to misdemeanor theft offenses.