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Notices from the Court Administrator
The following notices are from the Office of the Court Administrator of Westmoreland County, Pa. For more information, contact Tami L. Silvis, Assistant Court Administrator, at (724) 830-3829.
Civil/Orphans' Court Motions
(Posted April 3, 2008, edited April 10, 2008)
Judge Ackerman will not be hearing civil or orphans' court motions on Friday, April 25, 2008. Counsel should make arrangements to present motions on a prior or subsequent Friday.
Judge Ober will not be hearing civil or orphans' court motions on Friday, April 25, 2008, or Friday, May 2, 2008. Counsel should make arrangements to present motions on a prior or subsequent Friday.
Judge Caruso will not be hearing civil or orphans' court motions on Friday, May 16, 2008, Friday, June 6, 2008, and Friday, July 18, 2008. Counsel should make arrangements to present motions on a prior or subsequent Friday.
Please note: Motions will not be heard on Friday, June 13, 2008, or Friday, July 3, 2008; the Courthouse will be closed in observance of Flag Day and Independence Day, respectively.
Westmoreland County Prison Access
(Posted March 21, 2008)
Effective March 17, 2008, attorneys and visitors may not bring wallets and purses into the Westmoreland County Prison. When visiting a client, attorneys are advised to bring a photo identification. Case files, portfolios, and brief cases containing case papers may be brought into the county prison.
Access to State Criminal System on the Internet
(Posted December 27, 2007)
The Common Pleas Case Management System (CPCMS) is utilized statewide to
schedule criminal cases. All counties are currently using CPCMS for criminal court
schedules. You can access criminal court case information and court schedules for every county on the Internet via the state website at www.ujsportal.pacourts.us. There is also a link to this website from the Westmoreland County homepage, www.co.westmoreland.pa.us.
Recent enhancements were made to the CPCMS website that permit users to view, search, and print court schedules and lists. Explanatory documents regarding use of this new important functionality for those who rely upon the Internet to access CPCMS are available in the Criminal Division of the Court Administrator’s office (Room M8) and at the Westmoreland Bar Association office.
2008 Civil Court Calendars
(Posted October 3, 2007)
The 2008 Civil Court Calendars are available in the Court Administrator's Office, Civil Division, Room M7.
Reminder to Civil Attorneys – Arbitration
(Posted July 23, 2007)
Westmoreland County Rule W1301, effective January 1, 2007, requires that the plaintiff filing a case subject to arbitration provide the Court Administrator’s Office with a copy of the complaint at the time of filing. The Court Administrator will then schedule the case for arbitration without further prompting.
The Court Administrator has received very few complaints since the adoption of Rule W1301. If you have filed a complaint for a case subject to arbitration and you have not received notice that your case is scheduled for arbitration, please provide the Civil Court Administrator with a copy of your complaint or a Certificate of Readiness for Arbitration.
Reminder to Criminal Court Attorneys
(Posted February 5, 2007)
When you represent a defendant in a criminal case you must formally enter your appearance with the Clerk of Courts in order for your name to be entered in the state criminal case management system (CPCMS) used to schedule and send notices for criminal court events by the Court Administrator's Office. A Waiver of Arraignment and Entry of Appearance form and an Entry of Appearance form are available in the Court Administrator's Office or online for your use. If you fail to enter your appearance, you will not receive court notice of scheduled events.
Notice to Orphans' Court Attorneys
(Posted October 30, 2006)
Adoption and Termination forms have been revised effective immediately. All parties and practitioners must use the new revised forms. The forms are available on line at co.westmoreland.pa.us or at the Register of Wills office.
Notice to Criminal Court Attorneys: State Intermediate Punishment
(Posted October 23, 2006)
Sentencing for state intermediate punishment cases will be conducted with the State Correctional Institute via video conferencing on the defendant's scheduled sentencing date. Defendants will not be transported for SJP sentencing.
Notice to Criminal Court Attorneys: MDJ Preliminary Hearing Record
(Posted October 4, 2006)
The equipment used to record preliminary hearings before Magisterial District Judges will be replaced through the end of the year with Liberty Digital Recorders. Attorneys can obtain a free copy of the Liberty playback software from the following website http://www.libertyrecording.com/ for transcription purposes. A USB foot pedal and PC headset are also required for transcription.
Attorneys can request a copy of preliminary hearing recordings from the Court Administrator's Office. The Court Administrator's Office will provide CDs for copies of digital recordings and charge private counsel a nominal fee for same. Questions regarding preliminary hearing recordings should be directed to Tami Silvis at 724-830-3829.
Attention: Orphans' Court Attorneys
(Posted February 17, 2006)
The following Orphans' Court estate forms have been revised and are available on the County's web page at www.co.westmoreland.pa.us as Microsoft Word documents that may be downloaded for use.
- Petition for Distribution
- Decree of Distribution
- Certificate of Award of Real Estate
Copies of the forms are also available at the Register of Wills office.
Attention: Change Address Criminal Court Attorneys
(Posted February 17, 2006)
Attorneys who change their business address must notify the Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts or the Court Administrator's office of the new address in addition to notifying the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board. This will help ensure that attorneys receive notice of criminal court hearings on cases for which they have entered their appearance.
New bar members
(Posted September 28, 2005)
Bar members serving as arbitrators for Westmoreland County Court must complete a W-9 form with the Westmoreland County Controller's Office.
Notice to Appointed Counsel
(Posted June 6, 2005)
The Supreme Court is receiving petitions from criminal defendants alleging that appointed counsel failed to pursue available avenues of appellate review. Effective immediately, in reviewing such petitions the Court will advise the attorney of the allegation and request a response. If the Court Concludes that counsel abandoned the client in violation of the rules and case law, the matter will automatically be referred to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court for consideration. See Pa.R.Crim.P. 122(C)(3) and 904(E) and Comments thereto.
Prothonotary
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Custody Service Providers
(Posted January 31, 2005)
All qualified providers of custody services for the citizens of Westmoreland County are invited to provide Paul Kuntz, District Court Administrator, 2 North Main St., Greensburg, Pa. 15601 with a description of services provided and a schedule of charges for those available services. This information will be made available at the Custody Office to all litigants.
Mortgage Foreclosure Cases
(Posted November 18, 2004)
Effective immediately, when filing a mortgage foreclosure case in the Prothonotary's office, you must include a coversheet. All mortgage foreclosure cases will be assigned to a judge by the Prothonotary upon filing. In the event that the case requires judicial attention, you will present the matter to the assigned judge. Coversheets are available in the Prothonotary's office. Thank you for your attention to this change.
Civil/Orphans' Court Notice
(Posted September 8, 2004)
The bar is advised that small estate petitions and petitions to approve the settlement of minors' claims, both of which require a review of documents, may be mailed or brought to the judge's chambers for review and consideration, and need not be presented at motions' court. Should the judge decide, upon review of the petition, that further explanation or direction is needed, the petitioning party's counsel will be notified.
Daniel J. Ackerman, President Judge
Gary P. Caruso, Judge
William J. Ober, Judge
Notice
(Posted August 23, 2004)
Westmoreland Local Rule W1920.12, which requires Social Security Numbers on divorce complaints, has been rescinded effective August 17, 2004.
Notice
(Posted July 14, 2004)
Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 576(B)(1), which was effective on July 1, 2004, requires attorneys to serve a copy of all written motions, answers, and notices or documents for which filing is required on the court administrator at the same time the original is filed. This requirement is the same that we have been operating under in Westmoreland County pursuant to Westmoreland County Rule of Criminal Procedure WC 576(a) and (b). Pursuant to the new Supreme Court rule, all parties must continue to serve copies on the court administrator. In addition, the Comment suggests that counsel send a copy of the motion to the judge if a judge is assigned to the case.
Upon receipt of its copy of the motion, the court administrator will forward the copy to the assigned judge for a determination pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 577(A)(1) of whether an answer or argument is required. In the event an argument is required, the court administrator will provide Notice pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 577(A)(2).
New Westmoreland County Rule of Criminal Procedure WC 576 permits the option provided by Pa.R.Crim.P. 576(B)(2)(f) for service of any document on the court administrator by facsimile transmission.
All criminal practitioners should review Motions, Filing, and Service procedures found in Pa.R.Crim.P. 575, 576, and 577.
Notice
(Posted July 14, 2004)
A complete set of the current Westmoreland County local rules can be found on the Internet at www.courts.state.pa.us/judicial-council/local-rules. These updated rules contain the new civil motions practice rules, which take effect on July 26, 2004. All civil practitioners are reminded to review these rules as new forms, certification, pre-trial, and motions practices are included.
Civil Motions Rules
(Posted June 24, 2004)
The New Westmoreland Motions Rules can be viewed on the Westmoreland County WEBPAGE at www.co.westmoreland.pa.us under "Courts, Civil, New Motions Rules." The effective date of these and the new Supreme Court Rules is July 26, 2004.
Attention: Change of Attorney Address
(Posted June 8, 2004)
All attorneys must notify the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board of address changes. The new statewide Common Pleas Case Management System (CPCMS), which has been implemented in Westmoreland County for Criminal Court, utilizes the Disciplinary Board information for attorney mailing addresses. To make certain that our Criminal Court system has current address information, attorneys should fax all address changes directly to the Disciplinary Board at 1-717-731-7080.
Notice from the District Attorney
(Posted March 2, 2004)
Because of budgetary constraints, the Office of District Attorney can only provide discovery in criminal cases upon advance payment of twenty-five ($.25) cents per page effective March 15, 2004.
Notice of judicial assignments
(Posted February 27, 2004)
President Judge Daniel J. Ackerman will be doing one-third of all civil, guardianship, estates, and nonprofits; and, all land use appeals and condemnations.
Judge William J. Ober will be doing one-third of all civil, guardianship, estates, and nonprofits; and, all tax claim bureau cases, assessment appeals, petitions to garnish wages in landlord/tenant matters, and appeals of district justice contempt orders.
Judge Gary P. Caruso will be doing one-third of all civil, guardianship, estates, and nonprofits; and, all statutory appeals, writs of seizure and replevins, petitions to change name, statements of objection, claims for exemption and applications for licenses including appointments of humane officers.
Attention criminal court attorneys
(Posted February 25, 2004)
As a reminder, pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 120(c), you can only withdraw your appearance as counsel for a defendant with leave of court. You will receive court notices as the attorney of record on a case, unless and until the Clerk of Courts receives an order permitting your withdrawal. A withdrawal order once filed will assure that your name is removed as the lead attorney on the case and that you will not get any future court notices.
Attention civil attorneys
(Posted February 2, 2004)
Effective February 2, 2004, the Court Administrator's Office, Civil Division, will no longer schedule Civil Argument Court. The three Civil/Orphans' Judges (President Judge Ackerman, Judge Caruso and Judge Ober) will schedule their own argument court. You must complete a civil argument court form when filing your argument court motion and/or briefs. The argument court motion will not be scheduled if the argument court form does not accompany the motion.
Please take argument court motions for scheduling directly to the chambers of the judge who has been assigned the civil case. All cases formally assigned to Judge Loughran, have been assigned to Judge Ober.
Family Court judge assignments
(Posted February 2, 2004)
The following alphabetical listing of Family Court judicial assignments will take effect on February 2, 2004.
|
A-Fa |
Judge Marsili |
|
Fb-K |
Judge Bell |
|
L-Ri |
Judge Feliciani |
|
Rj-Z |
Judge Driscoll |
Orphans' Court notice
(Posted January 27, 2004)
Effective February 2, 2004, all orphans' court cases will be assigned to one of the three civil/orphans' court judges by the Register of Wills. Guardianship cases will be assigned upon filing. Estate cases will be assigned when the first issue is raised. A miscellaneous judge will be responsible of a rotating basis every four months to handle audit court, inheritance tax contempts, and other miscellaneous type matters. All motions not requiring a hearing date, will still be heard during the month of February by Senior Judge Mihalich, every Tuesday at 9:00 A.M.
The Civil/Orphans' Court judges are:
- Judge Daniel J. Ackerman
- Judge Gary P. Caruso
- Judge William J. Ober
Notice to criminal defense attorneys
(Posted March 19, 2003)
Criminal cases are now given a date certain for trial during each trial term. Attorneys who have entered appearances on criminal cases will receive a notice and a list of cases for each trial term. The Trial date set for every case is identified on your list. Attorneys are responsible for notifying their clients of the assigned trial date.
Most trial cases are scheduled for trial readiness conferences prior to the trial term. Any problem with your trial date certain must be brought to the Court's attention at this conference.
Cancellation of trials due to inclement weather
(Posted January 7, 2003)
In case of inclement weather, you are asked to monitor the local television and radio stations. If Greensburg-Salem School district is closed, then Westmoreland County jury trials will be cancelled and we will not have jurors report for jury duty.
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