Westmoreland Register of Wills faces contempt of court allegations

Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton has been ordered to appear before a judge in early March to respond to contempt of court allegations.

Common Pleas Judge Jim Silvis said Hamilton violated requirements that her office promptly file adoption records.

Hamilton, a Republican from Hempfield, was unopposed when she was elected to her fourth term in office in November. She is accused of violating administrative court orders that date to November 2022 and call for the Register of Wills staff to complete and file certificates within 10 days of a finalized adoption.

According to court documents, Silvis identified 26 adoption cases and 14 appeals dating to 2019 in which the Register of Wills was accused of violating time requirements to file and process records.

Silvis ordered Hamilton to appear before him March 8 for a contempt of court hearing.

“It is alleged that defendant failed to comply with administrative orders,” Silvis wrote in a court order filed Thursday.

According to state law, Hamilton could be fined up to $100 and sentenced to 15 days in jail if she is found in contempt of court.

Hamilton was not at the courthouse Friday and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Her chief deputy, Rona Beluschok, referred all questions to Hamilton.

Shara Saveikis, director of the county Children’s Bureau, said the timely issuance of adoption certificates is essential for children.

“They cannot get a birth certificate without the adoption certificate, which negatively impacts school enrollment, college applications, employment, name change, passports, driver’s license, medical and life insurance, baptism, sports and extracurricular activities, and anything else which requires an official birth certificate,” Saveikis said.

The Register of Wills office, in addition to its responsibilities to oversee court records related to wills and estates and the processing of marriage licenses, also serves as clerk of orphans court and is responsible for recording all documents associated with adoptions.

Hamilton previously said the office has struggled to keep up with its workload because of ongoing staffing issues. For several weeks last fall, the office restricted public access and moved to an appointment-only model to account for a depleted staff. Hamilton blamed the issue on existing medical leaves and an inability to fill as many as seven vacant clerk jobs in the office.

Four clerks appeared to be on duty Friday afternoon.

Officials said the office processes hundreds of adoptions annually as well as dependency issues for juveniles who are monitored by the county children’s bureau. The bureau sponsored 49 adoptions in 2023, officials said.

Delays in the filing of adoption certificates in Westmoreland County has been an ongoing issue, according to two local lawyers.

Attorney Rebecca Fenoglietto said she had clients who waited more than a year to receive their adoption certificate from the county.

“Without adoption certificates, children can’t get registered for schools or get signed up for health insurance. It makes a real tangible impact on the lives of these children,” Fenoglietto said. “It’s laughable because this is something that should take about five minutes. It’s a two-page document.”

Attorney Patricia Elliott-Rentler described a situation involving parents who planned to take their newly adopted children on a vacation out of the country but could not get passports for their new family members because of county delays in filing adoption certificates.

“I had to go into the Register of Wills office repeatedly to get the information they needed to apply for the passports. People waited five months, seven months, and it’s a universal problem,” Elliott-Rentler said. “Clearly the leader of the office is not physically present to make sure the work is being done.”