Westmoreland courtroom closed due to pandemic case

Westmoreland County Court Administrator Amy DeMatt said a coronavirus outbreak hit the county criminal courts.

As a result, cases scheduled Monday before one judge were canceled, though other courtrooms continued to operate as scheduled.

Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani and his staff were not at the courthouse on Monday. DeMatt, who was stationed behind a podium outside the judge’s courtroom to greet defendants scheduled to appear, said at least one employee tested positive for the virus over the weekend. She declined to say how many employees were tested.

Feliciani presided over more than a dozen cases Friday.

The court diagnosis came several weeks after a staffer for Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears tested positive for coronavirus. Mears continued to conduct cases after that diagnosis. DeMatt said the county’s human resources department conducted contact tracing in that case but no other court staffer was deemed to be a close contact and that Mears’ courtroom and chambers were sufficiently cleaned before the decision was made to resume hearings.

County courts have operated on a mostly normal basis since this summer. Criminal trials resumed in August and civil trials restarted this month.

Feliciani was scheduled Monday to preside over more than two dozen cases to determine their status before the November criminal trial term begins next week.

Even as the coronavirus surged through Westmoreland County in recent weeks, most courthouse functions continue to operate without interruption. An elections bureau staff member tested positive for the virus days before the Nov. 3 election. A second county worker, temporarily assigned to the elections bureau, tested positive later last week.

County commissioners said elections bureau workers wree essential staff and, as a result, employees were allowed to continue on the job even though county policy calls for offices to close for at least a day after an employee tests positive for the virus.