Westmoreland courthouse to operate by appointment only through December

Westmoreland County officials said Friday that most business at the courthouse in Greensburg will be conducted by appointment only through the end of December.

Commissioners said all county offices will continue to operate during the three-week period of new restrictions announced earlier this week by Gov. Tom Wolf amid the ongoing intensive surge of coronavirus cases. Record-breaking numbers of new infections have been reported throughout Pennsylvania and in Westmoreland County.

“We’re just piggy-backing on what the row officers are doing,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes. “Everything is still open, we just ask you call in advance.”

Coronavirus cases in the county shattered records over the last two days. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Friday that 657 new infections were reported in the county, just a day after a new record was set with 505 new cases.

Kertes has been in quarantine all week after he announced on Tuesday he contracted the virus, which has impacted more than 100 county staffers since the onset of the pandemic in March. Most recently, several courthouse offices had to be temporarily closed because of infections among employees, including the county’s Office of Veteran Affairs, which shut down earlier this week and is slated to reopen on Dec. 14.

Most row offices earlier in December temporarily reverted to a business-by-appointment model as coronavirus cases continued to mount. Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton announced Friday that her office, one of the last at the courthouse that allowed walk-in service, would begin operating by appointment only starting on Monday.

Criminal and civil court hearings will continue over the next several weeks but judges have been instructed to conduct as many hearings as possible by video and telephone. Inmates will not be brought to the courthouse for court appearances and all civil and criminal trials have been suspended through January.

Officials said public government meetings at the courthouse will be conducted as scheduled, but with attendance reduced to meet CDC guidelines. The county’s prison board is slated to meet on Monday at the courthouse and commissioners have public meetings scheduled for Dec. 15 and Dec. 17, when the 2021 budget is expected to be approved.

Kertes said no personnel cuts are planned before the end of the year.

Commissioners in April furloughed about 500 employees after the government ordered residents to stay at home in the early days of the pandemic. Most workers have since been recalled.

The governor’s restrictions are slated to expire Jan. 4, and Kertes said that is when courthouse operations are expected return to normal.