Making payments in time to avoid penalties is a regular occurrence at a county courthouse.

It happens when people pay taxes. It can happen when closing a deal or settling a case. Taking care of the money aspect of a legal transaction can be the final piece that cements everything.

But it also can be something that happens between the various offices of a courthouse. Money can be collected by many officials. Much of it later gets stirred into one pot to pay for the work the government does.

At least, that’s how it is supposed to work. It’s been one of many problems in Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton’s office.

Hamilton has faced hearings this year over work not completed and orders not filed. Judges have stripped her of her authority by placing a conservator in charge of righting the listing ship that is her office. She has been found in contempt of court — with sentencing set for next week.

But one of the most blatant problems was a failure to take the money collected and turn it over to the county treasurer. In May, office solicitor Sean Logue shrugged off a court order to do so by June 13, blaming the failure on a new bookkeeper and saying there were no problems with Hamilton’s handling of the office.

“She’s doing a great job, and you are lucky to have her,” he said.

The $422,000 in unremitted money was finally turned over Thursday, the last day given by the court. Now Hamilton is just late with May’s money.

With that process completed months late and just shy of what one would assume could be yet another contempt of court ruling, Hamilton tossed the taxpayers a bone. She announced Wednesday that she won’t run for office again in 2027.

That’s another bare minimum of what’s being asked.

The county is paying for two people to do her job: Hamilton, in her third term of doing a full-time job that her staff testified she barely does on a part-time basis, and court-appointed lawyer Jim Antonino. This isn’t the first time Hamilton’s failure to show up has been an issue. It was raised in her 2019 campaign.

In a comment that would be funny if it weren’t sad, Hamilton remarked about therapy dogs in the courthouse this week.

“We’re happy they’re here, and I wish they could be here every day,” she said.

The taxpayers might feel the same about their register.

Commissioners Sean Kertes, a Republican, and Ted Kopas, a Democrat, both have called on her to resign. She will only commit to taking three more years of public paychecks before turning over the position to someone new.

She should do the right thing and step down now. If she won’t, she should be impeached. The bare minimum of being just a month behind in doing her job isn’t enough to keep that job.

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