Life during covid: Former Westmoreland public defender makes career move in midst of pandemic

Apr. 17—Editor's note: This is an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community.

Attorney Chris Haidze doesn't regret for a minute his decision to make a major career move in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic to become Westmoreland County special courts administrator.

Even with the emergency sanitizing calls, new court social distancing protocols and constant shuffling of district court staffs, Haidze said he's really has enjoyed the ride.

The 53-year-old Lower Burrell resident has been a practicing attorney since 1992, including 26 years as an assistant public defender. Last June, he succeeded county special courts administrator Don Heagy, who retired after 16 years.

With little administrative experience, Haidze was put in charge of not just one office, but literally 16 separate offices throughout the county. He became the top administrator for the county's magisterial district judge system.

He oversees a staff of 16 district judges and their staffs, about 70 workers in all.

"It's been very busy, fun, very interesting and real rewarding. I've really enjoyed it and working with everyone, but I've had a lot of help, too," Haidze said.

He recalled a conversation with President Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway after his hiring in which she stressed the importance of the job.

"Judge Hathaway emphasized that courts are an essential part of society... not only as far as criminal law with arraignments and hearings, but tenant-landlord issues, evictions and civil cases. It was essential we keep them operating through this (pandemic) as best we could," Haidze said.

Haidze admits that he's sought and received a lot of help maintaining court operations over the past 10 months from Hathaway, county court administrator Amy Mears DeMatt, special courts administrative assistant Donna Perkins, the county human resources staff, state court officials, plus each of the 16 district court judges and their respective staffs.

"I've even consulted with Don a few times," Haidze said. "He's been very gracious."

In the past 10 months, Haidze said 15 out of the 16 offices have have been impacted by the coronavirus. That means arranging intense sanitizing of offices with maintenance staffs and frequently "loaning staff members from one office to another" to fill vacancies due to mandatory quarantines.

"The level of cooperation among the offices has been terrific," Haidze noted. "We've essentially tried to stay open as best we can."

Users at various offices may find different procedures in each court. For example, some offices require visitors to call by phone from the parking lot and often they are instructed to wait in their vehicles until they receive a return call to come into the court office for a scheduled hearing.

District Judge Charles Moore's office in East Huntingdon also has a chair outside the front door during business hours with a pile of envelopes resting in a basket which people use to drop fines or payments in the office mailbox. The procedure enhances social distancing between public and the court staff, the judge says.

Haidze noted there's intentionally different operating rules in the different courts.

"Judge Hathaway didn't want to dictate the procedures in each court operation. They (district judges and their staffs) know the best methods of operating," Haidze said.

Haidze admits it's an ongoing learning curve for a "lifelong criminal defense attorney" to learn about public bidding procedures and obtaining price quotes for projects.

During the pandemic, there's been a number of ongoing security and technical improvements using state and federal funding, Haidze noted. Improvements include new LED lights installed in some parking lots to improve safety for staff members during video arraignments at night, new video-capable laptops and iPads have been added and ordered, plastic shielding has been added in courtrooms, new plastic chairs were purchased to make sanitizing easier and video door bells and automatic door openers have been installed to "reduce public contact."

In November, county commissioners approved more technology improvements enabling the county's 16 court buildings to be better connected with the courthouse. Some $150,000 of the total $248,000 cost will be covered by the $31.5 million in funding through the federal CARES Act that was awarded to the county last year.

Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour believes Haidze has done a "tremendous" job overseeing the district courts operations during the pandemic.

"Chris hit the ground seamlessly. Certainly, his experience as a lawyer with the courts, knowing all aspects of the courts, was a great advantage to him," Mansour said. "As an attorney, he has a familiarity of what we do and how we do it and I think he's been very, very effective."

Haidze obtained his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1992 and earned bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Washington and Jefferson University in 1989.

He and his wife, Tina, have two boys, Luke, 18, and Ben, 15.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .