A lawsuit that sought to reverse a court order issued two decades ago requiring the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department to transport jailed inmates to preliminary hearings was dismissed Tuesday.
Common Pleas Court President Judge Christopher Feliciani issued a short, one-paragraph order that terminated the legal action filed in January by Sheriff James Albert. Albert said the transportation requirement left his department unable to fulfill other mandated functions.
Feliciani initially scheduled a hearing on the issue for April 2, but that court review has been canceled.
The judge said the sheriff’s lawsuit was “improvidently filed,” a legal term that concluded the county court was not the proper venue for Albert’s challenge of a 2006 order issued by now-retired Judge Daniel Ackerman that mandated the department transport inmates.
“It appears the judge is indicating the matter is better submitted to another court. Our intention is to file another lawsuit as soon as possible in Commonwealth Court,” Albert said.
Albert contends the inmate transports have become too costly and have diverted his staff from other duties, such as serving warrants. County taxpayers could save an estimated $250,000 by having local police departments and constables take over inmate transportation responsibilities, the sheriff said.
County officials were expected to challenge Albert’s lawsuit.
Commissioner Ted Kopas said the sheriff department’s own statistics revealed inmate transportation had dramatically declined after 2020. Reports indicated the department topped 20,000 transports in 2019. Just 7,035 transports were completed in 2024, the last year statistics were available, he said.
“It begs the question, what are they doing?” Kopas said.
Albert has argued that Westmoreland is the only county in Pennsylvania where the sheriff’s department is required to transport inmates to preliminary hearings.