Westmoreland courthouse construction project prompts revision to bail payment process

Westmoreland County Park Police Chief Henry Fontana said he wasn’t quite sure how his department became responsible for collecting bail payments on behalf of inmates seeking release from prison at night or on weekends.

But that’s about to change, thanks in part to the $7 million reconstruction of the underground parking garage at the courthouse in Greensburg. Officials are shifting the responsibility from the park police to Westmoreland County Prison in Hempfield.

The move is expected to streamline the payments and speed inmate releases from the lockup after normal business hours, when the Clerk of Courts office at the courthouse is closed.

“It was actually a mess,” Fontana said. “There was no reason for the (county) police department to collect bond.”

The garage construction project is expected to take at least six months to complete and has necessitated the closure of the courtyard and primary entrance on Main Street. Officials relocated the entrance and security checkpoint to a front door of the old courthouse complex, which had been closed to the public for decades.

That change led to the bail system’s overhaul, Westmoreland County Prison Warden Bryan Kline said.

Still, Fontana said he wanted the park police removed from the process long before the construction project prompted the change.

The previous system required family members or friends of inmates to drive between the jail and courthouse. Park police officers coordinated with jail personnel over the phone and by fax machine to exchange paperwork before collecting bail payments.

The process could take up to three hours, Fontana said.

“There really was no reason for us to be involved. This is a money and time saver for us now,” Fontana said.

Large bail amounts and property bonds set by magistrates will continue to be made at the Clerk of Courts office at the courthouse during regular business hours.

Since the change, only three inmates have paid at the jail.

“With technology, bail can also be posted online,” Kline said.