Westmoreland voters to elect new register of wills for abbreviated term

Westmoreland County voters this year will elect a new register of wills to serve an abbreviated term that runs through the end of 2027.

Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and confirmed this week by the state Senate to run the courthouse office where wills, estates, adoptions and guardianships are filed. The 11-month appointment came as a surprise to some county officials, who had anticipated Wian would serve out the remaining three years left in the unexpired term of former Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton.

Hamilton, a Republican from Hempfield, was forced to resign as a condition of a court-ordered settlement in a contempt-of-court action that resulted from allegations of office mismanagement that led to staffing shortages and filing delays that, in some cases, lasted years.

Hamilton left office in September after serving just eight months of what was expected to be her third consecutive four-year term. She was re-elected without opposition in November 2023.

Former office clerk Katie Pecarchik has served as acting register of wills since Hamilton’s resignation. Pecarchik originally retired in 2023 after more than two decades as an office employee and was rehired by court-appointed conservator Jim Antoniono to reshape and restaff the register of wills operation. She said she will again retire when Wian takes office.

Officials said Pecarchik was ineligible for the gubernatorial appointment because she was registered as a Democrat when Hamilton was re-elected. Pecarchik has since changed her party registration and said Thursday she will seek the Republican nomination this year for the two-year term.

While a Democrat, she ran unsuccessfully against Hamilton in 2019.

“I still have the signs, and I’m ready to roll. I have the experience and the knowledge to run the office. The office is running smoothly now, and I feel no one should be running it that doesn’t have the experience and knowledge,” Pecarchik said.

Wian, since 2020, has served as chief of staff to Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes and previously as chief deputy to Treasurer Jared Squires. He will be sworn into office once he receives his official commission for the new job that, according to official records, expires at the end of 2025.

Wian said he too will run for the register’s job this spring.

“I have experience with management. I served in a row office and in the commissioners office, and I have years of community service. I care about Westmoreland County, and I’ve lived here all my life,” Wian said.

The register of wills office was not originally scheduled to appear on the ballot in 2025, according to acting Election Bureau Director Scott Ross.

Officials on Thursday learned Wian’s appointment expires at year’s end and started the process of having the position be included as part of this year’s election along with other county row office jobs such as district attorney, coroner, prothonotary and clerk of courts.

Ross said voters will fill the register’s job for two years, and it will return to the ballot for a four-year cycle for the 2027 election.