Work evaluating stacks of files reportedly found in the former chief deputy’s office at the embattled Westmoreland County Register of Wills Office continues while an office retiree is back on the job to help train staff members.

Attorney Jim Antoniono, who has been appointed conservator to oversee the office, said staff members also are working on getting caught up with monthly reports due to the controller’s office.

“I think, hopefully, we’re through the surprises,” he said after a status conference Tuesday.

During the hearing, Judge Harry Smail heard testimony from a courthouse employee who, along with two others, was tasked with reviewing dozens of files reportedly found in several piles in the former chief deputy’s office. Lisa Rosendale, orphans court administrator, testified that the trio got about halfway through the files Monday and found that most were incomplete.

“There was a lot of discrepancies between the files and the docket,” she testified.

Former chief deputy Rona Beluschok defended her work and said the adoption filings were not the responsibility of the chief deputy. She declined to elaborate and said she’s looking into legal options.

Beluschok, who had served as chief deputy since 2016, was removed from her duties last week. She was hired in 2013.

For the past month, Antoniono has served as de facto head of the county row office in place of Republican Sherry Magretti Hamilton, who was stripped of her authority this year after judges found her in contempt of court. They said she violated two court orders designed to correct filing deficiencies that led to backlogs and delays in the processing of records. The office oversees adoptions, guardianships, wills, estates and marriage licenses.

Hamilton, who was elected to her third term in November, continues to draw her nearly $90,000 annual salary. She agreed last month to resign as the elected register at year’s end and pay a $10,000 fine in return for having her criminal contempt conviction be converted to a civil penalty.

Testimony in the case previously revealed that, under Hamilton’s watch, the office at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg had routinely been late in processing adoption certificates and appeals involving wills and estates. The backlogs and errors in some cases dated to 2019. The office was short staffed for years and employees weren’t properly trained, according to previous testimony.

The office in June turned over to the county treasury more than $422,000 in court fees collected through routine filings for the first four months of the year, payments that historically are made monthly.

Tuesday’s status conference was prompted by court documents Antoniono filed last week that indicated incomplete adoption files were found. Three courthouse employees were reassigned temporarily to review them.

Rosendale, who was the only one of the three to testify, said in addition to what she described as incomplete files, they also found in the former chief deputy’s office a box that contained a variety of documents, such as bookkeeping receipts and estate records.

The office’s chief deputy is tasked with overseeing all operations in the office in the absence of the elected office holder. The second deputy handles adoption cases. Antoniono said the second deputy is getting up to speed with how to process those. She had not been trained on them after six months on the job.

“I feel really good about her role going forward,” he told Smail.

Antoniono said he hopes adoption records can be sent to those who have requested them in the next two to three months.

Retired Register of Wills staffer Katie Pecarchik started work as chief deputy Monday. She previously worked in the office for 20 years before retiring in 2023. She will be paid $48,655, officials said. Pecarchik in 2019 ran on the Democratic ticket against Hamilton for the Register of Wills position.

Her biggest job over the next couple months will be making sure employees are trained, Antoniono said.

The conservatorship will be subject to at least three review hearings by the court, held about every four months.

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