Resignations leave Westmoreland coroner's office short-staffed

Tim Carson, Westmoreland County’s new coroner, has lost 40% of his full-time staff as the office’s top lieutenant resigned and one of its longest- serving deputies retired.

Chief Deputy Kirk Nolan and deputy John Ackerman, both holdovers from former Coroner Ken Bacha’s administration, are off the job, Carson said. The first-term Republican took office in January after defeating Bacha, who served more than two decades.

“I just want to thank them for their service,” Carson said. “I’ve been impressed since Day 1 with the professionalism of the office.”

Nolan, 57, served 22 years as a Pennsylvania State Police trooper before he retired in 2011. He was hired in 2015 as the chief of Westmoreland County’s Park Police and became Bacha’s chief deputy in 2019.

He could not be reached for comment.

Ackerman, 65, has worked as a deputy coroner since 2003. He said for the first time in his tenure he was assigned by Carson an early afternoon and evening shift after a career of working daylight hours. He also served as the handler for the office’s cadaver dog, a program he feared the new coroner is not in favor of retaining.

“I was concerned about by my family and about what was happening in the office,” Ackerman said. “I wanted to stick around a few more years, and I love my work. He was questioning the feasibility of the (cadaver dog) program.”

Ackerman said the dog was used several times over the past few years to help solve cases in Penn Hills and Armstrong County.

Carson said the use of a cadaver dog in Westmoreland County has been limited over the past several years and doesn’t justify the costs associated with its continuation. He suggested other agencies such as the state police have dogs that can be used if needed.

Carson retained all of Bacha’s staff, which included five full-time deputies and six part-time positions, to run the office and handle death investigations in the county. The office is staffed around the clock.

“I have no concerns about the office moving forward,” Carson said. “I expect to appoint a new chief deputy next week. These are important hires, and you can’t just hire anyone in those positions.”

The Coroner’s Office handled more than 3,500 death cases in 2020 and ordered 188 autopsies. Final statistics for 2021 are not yet available.