Westmoreland sheriff says deputy shortage strains department, but agrees to pause planned service cutback

A plan to halt the transport of some criminal defendants to hearings at local magistrate offices was put on a temporary hold Friday after intervention from a Westmoreland County judge.

Sheriff James Albert this week issued an edict that would have limited his department’s workload starting next week in response to what he said was a historic reduction in his staff caused by an outdated salary scale for his deputies.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas President Judge Christopher Feliciani upheld a 2006 court order that requires the sheriff’s department to transport all defendants from the jail to criminal court hearings at the courthouse and throughout the county’s district court system.

The judge’s involvement came as court officials scrambled to address concerns over the potential impact of the sheriff’s plan that would have singled out defendants arrested by state police in Greensburg.

Officials said those duties account for more than half of the county’s criminal court caseload.

“It’s resolved for now,”

Feliciani said.

The sheriff conceded that personal tensions between the deputies and the state police have surfaced in recent months but denied those issues were the cause of his threats to eliminate transportation of defendants.

He said state police, and not local police departments, are best suited to transport defendants.

State police at Greensburg spokesperson Trooper Steve Limani did not return a request for comment.

Albert said his plan was in response to staffing challenges that left his department unable to operate at full capacity without redirecting deputies assigned to serve warrants while also driving inmates from the jail to magistrate courts.

His department at full capacity operates with 63 deputies. It has 14 vacancies.

“We just don’t have the people,” Albert said. “This is the most openings I’ve had since I became sheriff in 2020.”

He blamed the job exodus and inability to fill vacancies on what he said are the lowest starting salaries for deputy sheriffs among Pennsylvania’s 11 Third Class counties.

Salaries for new deputies start at about $42,000 annually, according to county payroll records.

Contract expired

Sheriff’s department deputies are members of the Westmoreland County Court-­Appointed and Court-Related Employees Association, which represents about 250 courthouse staffers.

The union and county are in negotiations for a new labor deal. The previous four-year contract expired at the end of December.

The judge said he asked the county commissioners and the sheriff to find a solution to ensure enough deputies are on staff to perform all of the department’s mandated duties.

Albert said that will entail higher pay.

In the interim, Albert said, he will pull deputies from his warrant division to handle transportation of inmates.

But he suggested the system requires an overhaul that would enlist the use of both elected constables and police officers to assist in the duties now assigned to the sheriff’s department.

“I was a police officer in the 1970s, and police officers transported defendants in their cases,” Albert said. “We also had constables serve warrants and transport defendants to the magistrates.”

The county shifted away from the use of constables in 2011, saying the payment system at that time was ripe for potential fraud and became too expensive to operate.

County Commissioner Ted Kopas said it is up to Albert

to ensure his department operates as required.

“Personality conflicts should never get in the way of doing the job,” Kopas said. “There’s no secret there are staffing challenges across the county. But it’s up to the sheriff to manage what he has to make sure things are prioritized, including the transportation of inmates. Making excuses and posturing about salaries is not getting the job done.”

Commissioner Sean Kertes did not respond to a request for comment.

Albert and the commissioners have sparred in recent years over administrative duties.

The commissioners last year also required the sheriff’s department and all other county departments to use GPS trackers on county vehicles. That plan is on hold after a judge granted an injunction to allow the sheriff to challenge the legality of the policy in court.