Westmoreland County combines district courts

Paper: Valley News Dispatch ( New Kensington, PA)

Date: July 22, 2007

The offices of two local district judges in Westmoreland County have been targeted for consolidation, a move officials say will reduce costs and improve efficiency.

A redistricting plan released Friday calls for the district court offices in Lower Burrell and Vandergrift to be joined into one office in 2010.

The proposed move would join courts presided over by District Judges Cheryl Peck-Yakopec in Lower Burrell and Bernice McCutcheon in Vandergrift.

Both courts for the past several years have processed the fewest number of cases among the county's 18 district court offices.

"It's a smart move for effectiveness of the courts and a smart move for the taxpayers to remove some inefficiencies and excess expenses of an additional court," said Don Heagy, special courts administrator for Westmoreland County.

According to the redistricting report, McCutcheon's office will be shuttered and Yakopec's court will assume the caseload for the area.

McCutcheon's six-year term in office expires in 2010, the targeted closing date for the office. At that time, McCutcheon, who will turn 70 that year, is expected to retire, Heagy said.

To bolster the consolidation plan, county officials say both offices have underperformed in terms of cases handled over the last several years. Last year, McCutcheon's office processed 2,606 cases, while Yakopec's office handled 2,057 cases.

The average caseloads for the other 16 district court offices in the county was 4,453 cases last year.

The county last consolidated its district court system in 2003, when it closed an office in Irwin and merged its services with an existing office in North Huntingdon.

The redistricting plan announced yesterday calls for shifting a small area in Salem to a new district judge in January 2008. The voting precinct of New Salem would be moved from the territory of District Judge Lawrence Franzi in Washington Township to District Judge Charles Conway in Murrysville.

The county is seeking comments on the proposed redistricting until Aug. 10.

Author: Rich Cholodofsky