The local lodge of the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Constables is organizing a public forum in response to a recent Westmoreland County court order centralizing warrant service operations through the county sheriff's department.

Leadership for the lodge, which includes constables from Westmoreland, Indiana and Armstrong counties, is insistent that the order last month by President Judge John Blahovec will create a financial burden for the county that currently is borne by individual constables.

Constables cover their own expenses for equipment, vehicles, insurance and training, but those costs could be shifted onto taxpayers because of the policy change, the lodge's officers contend.

"What we're hoping is to highlight the facts to the public that the constables are the most cost-effective law enforcement group anywhere," said Glenn King, the lodge's president.

The group has scheduled a forum at 1 p.m. July 23 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92 in Lower Burrell.

Starting in August, all bench warrants and arrest warrants issued by the county's 17 district judges will be served by sheriff's deputies. All warrants that previously were issued to constables through district judges must be returned to the county by Aug. 31 so they can be reissued to the sheriff's department.

Constables have contended that the order essentially takes criminal warrant responsibilities away from them, but the court order states the sheriff may forward for service a copy of any warrant to "any police officer or agency authorized by law to serve warrants."

Acting Sheriff Charles Moore said court administrators have told him that roughly 26,000 warrants are outstanding in the county. Through a pilot program started in January, Moore's staff has served roughly 1,300 of 3,700 warrants turned over from district judges to his office.

Moore declined an invitation to attend the forum because of a previous commitment to attend the annual conference for the Pennsylvania Sheriffs' Association.

He said the constables aren't being excluded from the warrant process, but "there's a lot of room to do a better job to get the warrants served."

However, Moore said, there are no plans to increase the size of his office because of policy change.

"I sort of would hope that we can work together as a team," Moore said.

But some constables, such as Tom Rushnock of Arnold, said they're hearing from some of their colleagues that they'll have to find another way to make a living because of the change in policy. Elected constables have statewide jurisdiction, but might have to travel to other counties to make up for lost revenue.

Another constable, Jonathan Held, who won the Republican nomination for sheriff, said he thinks the only way the centralization of warrants will work is if the county expands the sheriff's office.

"They already have a full caseload and I'm afraid it's going to overload the deputies," said Held of Unity.

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