Contempt of court has been in the news a lot lately because of the multiple counts leveled against former President Donald Trump by a New York criminal court judge.
On Tuesday, a Westmoreland County official found herself in the same boat.
Sherry Magretti Hamilton is the register of wills. It’s an elected position that oversees the office responsible not only for things like wills and estates but also more personal issues like adoptions and guardianships. While the position is not as well-known as more public jobs like commissioner or district attorney, it is heavy with responsibility.
Common Pleas Judges Harry Smail Jr. and Jim Silvis say Hamilton has fallen down on that duty — and it may mean jail time.
Their order finds her guilty of direct criminal contempt for disobedience or neglect by an officer of the court; official misconduct; and misbehavior in the presence of the court and obstructing the administration of justice.
It comes after multiple hearings, multiple orders — and most importantly, multiple failures of Hamilton to do her job, to the detriment of Westmoreland County residents.
When an adoption is not made official, it stops a family from being formed. When an estate is not settled, it prevents a family from moving on. When Hamilton doesn’t do her job, it isn’t just papers that are lost in the shuffle. It is people.
The judges are appointing a conservator to do the work Hamilton has failed to do. But because she is an elected official, they cannot simply remove her from office. She can quit or she can be impeached — or she can continue to do what she has done for years. Namely, she can continue to not do her job and collect a paycheck.
She should resign.
Hamilton owes it to the people of Westmoreland County to recognize that she cannot do her job and step down so someone else can. She needs to stop cashing paychecks for work she cannot — or at least has not — accomplished.
It is an offense to the taxpayers to take money for a job she isn’t doing. It is an offense to the other people in her office and in the courthouse overall to expect them to pick up the slack. And it is an offense to the adopted children, adoptive parents, grieving families and others who have been lost in Hamilton’s undone paperwork.
Resign and allow the county to move on.
