Officals: Pending closure of Penn Township district judge's office is unwarranted

A proposal to close district justice offices in Penn Township and Mt. Pleasant remains unchanged as part of a revamped consolidation plan expected to be released in the coming weeks, officials said.

Westmoreland County Court Administrator Amy DeMatt said officials reviewed about two dozen comments filed in the last month, many of which were critical of the draft plan released in June that called for the reduction of district justice offices from 17 to 15 in 2022.

Local leaders, including administrators from Penn Township, Trafford and Manor, objected to the proposed closing of the court overseen by District Judge Helen Kistler. District Judge Charles Conway, whose Export-based court was to receive the bulk of cases shifted by the closure of the Penn Township court, also objected.

The Mt. Pleasant office, slated for elimination, has been closed since April following the retirement of District Judge Roger Eckels this year and because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Closure of that court would be made permanent under the revised plan.

Kistler, who has served three, six-year terms as district judge in Penn Township, has said she will retire when her term expires at the end of next year.

DeMatt said court officials opted to move forward with the shuttering of the two district justice offices but will redistribute cases from Kistler’s court to three different magistrates rather than assigning all cases to Conway.

“If the petition is granted, no judge would be unseated,” DeMatt said. “Kistler would finish her term, no candidate would spend money unnecessarily on running for an office that might be eliminated and staff would be relocated to other magisterial district offices and reduced through attrition. No one would lose a job.”

Court officials said the two courts slated for closure have averaged the fewest cases in the last four years. The court closures are estimated to save the state and county more than $400,000 annually.

Kistler, in written comments submitted to the county, apologized to voters in her district for announcing her retirement plans, which she said made her office a target for elimination.

“While I certainly do not want to see my other colleagues being placed in that position, it is inherently unfair to the communities to lose their community court because their judge is of retirement age,” Kistler wrote.

In a resolution approved last month, Penn Township commissioners said the population of the communities in the court’s jurisdiction is expected to remain steady following the 2020 U.S. Census, a scenario that warrants the office remain open.

“The board understands the need to balance population losses through the census, however, the board believes that there is no demographic argument for the elimination of (the Penn Township court),” commissioners said.

Similar resolutions were approved by municipal leaders in Trafford and Manor.

DeMatt said the revised court consolidation plan will be released in about two weeks. It must be approved by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court before it can implemented, she said.