A former second deputy in Westmoreland County’s Register of Wills Office announced her second attempt to oversee the courthouse office where wills and estates are filed.
Kimberly Horrell, 60, of Greensburg is the third candidate to enter the race to take over the embattled office that has had four different leaders in place since the start of last year.
Horrell, a Republican, served from 2016 to 2018 as second deputy to the register of wills at the time, Sherry Magretti Hamilton. Horrell resigned from the position over what she said was leadership concerns. In the 2019 Republican primary, Horrell challenged Hamilton for the office and lost the race.
Hamilton resigned as register of wills last year after a county judge stripped her of authority, on the heels of a contempt of court finding related to management concerns that ranged from delayed filings, personnel shortages and concerns that she spent little time on the job. For several months last summer, the office was run by a court-appointed conservator who was replaced in September by newly hired acting Register of Wills Katie Pecarchik, who previously served two decades as a clerk in the office.
Gov. Josh Shapiro appointed Republican Jon Wian, chief of staff to Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes, this month to serve out the next 11 months of Hamilton’s term as register of wills. Wian, 43, of Delmont, and Pecarchik, 56, of Hempfield, who resigned following Wian’s appointment, have since announced they will run for the seat in this spring’s Republican primary.
Westmoreland County voters will elect a new register of wills to begin an abbreviated two-year term starting in 2026.
Horrell touted her experience in the office and said her message echoes her previous campaign platform.
“There needs to be more transparency and accountability. The taxpayers deserve a full-time register who will answer to them and be present in the office,” Horrell said.
