Governor nominates Wian, Schimizzi to fill Westmoreland County Courthouse vacancies

Westmoreland County’s Register of Wills Office could be getting a new leader as part of a deal reached between Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state Senate to fill dozens of vacancies throughout Pennsylvania.

The governor this month nominated Jon Wian, chief of staff to Republican Commissioner Sean Kertes, to serve the new head of the courthouse office that oversees estates, wills, adoptions, guardianships and marriage licences. As part of the slate of nominations, Hempfield lawyer Matt Schimizzi was tabbed to fill a vacancy on the county’s common pleas court bench.

Both nominations require confirmation by the state Senate.

Wian, 43 of Delmont, since 2020 has served as Kertes’s top aide after a three-year stint working as chief deputy to Westmoreland County Treasurer Jared Squires.

“I am excited for the opportunity and can’t wait to get started. It’s a fantastic opportunity. The office is in good working order right now,” Wian said.

If confirmed, Wian takes over an office that had for years been besieged by mismanagement that officials said caused delayed filings and staffing shortages that required court intervention. Former Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton last May was found in contempt of court for violating court orders that required her to fix ongoing problems and failure to address complaints that she rarely showed up for work.

She resigned in September.

Hamilton, a Republican from Hempfield who was elected to her third-term in office in 2023, was ultimately demoted by the courts as control of the office was placed under the authority of Greensburg attorney James Antoniono after he was appointed by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Harry Smail Jr. to serve as conservator.

Antoniono hired former office employee Katie Pecarchik as the office’s new chief deputy and after Hamilton was forced to resign, was named acting register of wills in September.

Smail has been supportive of Pecarchik’s performance and praised her guiding the office through its troubled period.

“It is certainly the purview of the governor’s office to make an appointment, but I didn’t see it coming,” Smail said of Wian’s nomination. “It is my hope that with all the work we’ve done to correct that office, whoever gets the nomination can get things going in the right direction. I hope he gets up to speed so we don’t go back to where we were before the court intervened,” Smail said.

He said he planned to speak with both Wian and Pecarchik.

Pecarchik worked for two decades as a clerk in the register of wills office before originally retiring in 2023.

Pecarchik said she was disappointed she did not receive the gubernatorial appointment and is undecided about her future.

“They are putting someone in here without experience. This is a job that requires knowledge and experience,” Pecarchik said. “As a taxpayer this is something that really upsets me. I worked here for 20 years I saw what happened here and I transformed it. In my opinion it will now go back to where it was.”

Meanwhile, Schimizzi, 41, of Hempfield was selected to fill a judicial vacancy left by the 2023 retirement of Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway.

The county courts have operated for the last year one judge short of it’s full complement of 11 jurists. Schimizzi, if confirmed by the Senate, would serve out the remainder of 2025 until a new judge who is elected this year takes office for a full 10-year term.

Schimizzi will seek seat

Schimizzi earlier this month launched his campaign for judge. So far he is the lone candidate to announce his intention to run for the seat.

“Over the last 15 years, I have represented clients in numerous types of cases, such as civil litigation, criminal defense, family law, estate administration and real estate transactions. This diverse experience will allow me to serve the citizens of Westmoreland County as judge. And while the nomination is still subject to Senate confirmation, I am humbled to have this opportunity,” Schimizzi said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

Both nominations could be considered as early as next week by the state Senate. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required to confirm Schimizzi’s nomination while a simple majority of the 50-member Senate is needed to green light Wian’s appointment.

Erica Clayton Wright, spokeswoman for Senate Pro Tem Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, confirmed the appointments were part of a slate of statewide nominations agreed to as part of a bipartisan deal between the governor’s office and the Senate.

“Sen. Ward recommended and championed both nominees and is confident that their credentials and experiences in managing complex issues will not only help keep the communities throughout Westmoreland safe but also position them to flourish,” Wright said.