At least six officials from the criminal division of the Allegheny County Court Records Department left this week after testing positive for covid-19, and another 16 are in quarantine, according to several sources at the court.
No one in the county administration, who oversees the office, or in the court administration, which works closely with the people there, would confirm the numbers.
Amie Downs, a spokesman for Allegheny County, said they did not provide information on obscure cases or exposure “with the exception of departments where employees provide direct assistance to a resident.
“Like most other employers in the county, we had individuals with positive results,” wrote Downs in an email. “We are following the same orientation as everyone else. This includes mitigation, isolation and quarantine measures and improved cleanliness. Contact trackers reach anyone who may have been a close contact based on the investigation of the case. “
During the pandemic, the Fifth Judicial District website provided updates to the public when officials in the judicial system tested positive.
For example: “3/8/2021 The court received notification that an employee of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office tested positive for covid-19. This individual was mainly in the district attorney’s office in Dormont on March 5, 2021. ”
The last update was on March 8, and none of the Court’s Records Department cases were listed there until Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement from the Allegheny County Court administration, spokesman Joseph Asturi wrote that they update positive covid-19 cases on the website for “court officials and others who appear in court facilities open to the public whenever we receive confirmation of a positive test. “
“At the Allegheny County Court, the court’s facilities would include the 3rd and 5th floors,” he wrote. “The Court’s Records Department is located on the first and second floors of the court and is under the jurisdiction of the county, not the court.”
While it is true that court records and court facilities operate on different floors of the court and fall into different jurisdictions, it is a distinction without a difference.
Staff at these offices frequently interact – retrieving and exchanging files for the judges who preside over criminal cases.
On Tuesday, after the Tribune-Review conducted investigations into the outbreak, a supervisor of the court’s administration sent an email to court officials notifying them of the outbreak.
“Good afternoon everybody. It is our understanding that some employees of the Judicial Records Department are quarantined due to exposure to covid-19. Follow all CDC guidelines and be careful. Stay safe, ”wrote Carol Eddins.
It included a link to these guidelines.
Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Eddins sent another email to court officials announcing a change in procedures for using the Court Records Department.
In the message, Eddins wrote: “Due to the number of quarantined employees in the court records, we will consolidate our registration requests.”
The message said that all requests must be sent by email and then a court records officer “will pull the files and bring them in a cart to the 537 conference room.”
There, Eddins continued, the court administration would sort the files and place them in boxes for individual courts.
A second cart will be used for files to be returned to court records.
“Please avoid entering the court records on the first or second floor,” the note continued. “We will keep you informed of the situation.”
When asked about details on Wednesday, Judge Kim Berkeley Clark requested that questions be sent by text message. These questions were not answered after 4 pm.
Last summer, a lawyer in the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office died after being hospitalized with covid-19, and several other officials tested positive for the virus.
Allegheny County Councilor Bethany Hallam said she is not surprised at how the courts and county are handling the outbreak in the court’s records department.
“We heard the same thing about the prison,” she said. “They are the same people. Why would we expect anything different? “
She said the county council was also not informed of the outbreak.
“Why would we expect them to be frank about greed in court, whether they are officials or not?”
Hallam said the county’s strategy is, “‘Let’s pretend this isn’t a problem and I hope it just goes away.’
“Perhaps your strategy is not working,” she said.
Instead, Hallam suggested that the county and the courts should consider the safety of their employees.
“It is so disappointing,” she said. “They put up banners and put up ads thanking our key employees, and that’s how we treat them.
“It’s disgusting.”
Paula Reed Ward is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Paula by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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