A courtroom showdown over GPS tracking of Westmoreland County vehicles was supposed to begin next week, but the case has instead been pushed to early November so the county and Sheriff James Albert can try to settle out of court. The delay is just the latest twist in a monthslong standoff between Albert and county commissioners that now spans everything from a donated police dog to deputy overtime pay approaching three-quarters of a million dollars.
The nonjury trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, was delayed amid settlement talks, according to TribLIVE. The trial is expected to determine the validity of the county's 2024 vehicle policy, which Albert sued to invalidate after commissioners moved to install GPS trackers on roughly 30 sheriff's department vehicles as part of a broader fleet of 180 to 190 county-owned and leased vehicles. Smail had already rejected Albert's request to immediately strike down the policy, but an injunction has kept the trackers off sheriff's vehicles pending a full hearing.
Albert has challenged the GPS provision as a security risk and argues commissioners overstepped his independent authority to run the sheriff's office. The Pennsylvania Sheriffs' Association backed that position in a May 2025 court brief, contending that real-time tracking of sheriff vehicles endangers deputies during warrant execution and infringes on the constitutional independence of elected sheriffs, and that commissioners exceeded their statutory authority by trying to discipline row-office staff through administrative fleet rules.
A Donated K-9 Becomes the Latest Flashpoint
While the vehicle case heads toward settlement talks, a new dispute has erupted over a police dog. Albert posted a social-media video accusing commissioners of dragging their feet on approving his plan for a new firearms- and explosives-detecting K-9, a 2.5-year-old German shepherd-Belgian Malinois mix named Makro who was donated to the department in June along with prior training. Feeding, housing, transporting and training the dog were also donated, and Albert said his patience with the approval process had run out.
Commissioners sent Albert a proposal to implement the K-9 program, but it came with conditions he calls unacceptable: subtracting one position from a roster of more than 70 deputies and barring the dog from public appearances. Commissioner Ted Kopas pushed back on Albert's frustration, saying the sheriff's management of people made him question Albert's ability to handle animals. Formal approval of the K-9 agreement was not on commissioners' September public meeting agendas, and the board's next public meeting is not until October 22. Commissioners have denied slow-walking the approval process.
The K-9 dispute follows a pattern of friction between Albert and the county board. Albert won his first term as a Democrat in 2019, defeating Republican incumbent Jonathan Held. When Albert took office in January 2020, he publicly accused Held of leaving the sheriff's office disorganized and littered with trash, a claim Held denied and called a publicity stunt, according to CBS Pittsburgh. Held had shuttered the department's previous K-9 unit in 2018 amid his own legal controversies.
Overtime Costs Keep Climbing
Money remains at the center of nearly every disagreement between Albert and the board. Commissioners recently approved an amendment authorizing an additional $63,644 in overtime pay for sheriff's deputies, even as the county's 2026 budget had originally set aside just $350,000 for that purpose. Overtime payments had already reached $512,000 by September, and Kopas said the total is projected to hit $740,000 by year's end.
Albert had proposed a $700,000 overtime budget for 2026, and he said commissioners knew that figure was unrealistic from the start. The sheriff's office paid out more than $691,000 in deputy overtime in 2025, according to the same TribLIVE reporting. Overtime spending has added to the budget pressure.
Commissioners also renewed criticism of Albert over a Jeannette man's claim of improper custody. Commissioners cited that case during recent budget talks as part of their broader critique of the department's operations.
A Push to End Costly Inmate Transports
Albert has also proposed ending the practice of deputies transporting jailed inmates from the county jail to local district judge offices for preliminary hearings, arguing it would free up deputies for other shifts and cut down on overtime. He estimated in a January petition that the current arrangement costs taxpayers more than $250,000 annually in deputy overtime. The transport requirement remains in place. Commissioners and the county's president judge have halted implementation of Albert's proposed moratorium on the transports for now.
The inmate-transport fight is only the latest in a string of jurisdictional clashes involving Albert's office. In 2025, the sheriff entered into a federal 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the county was removed from the program in June because the sheriff does not operate the county prison. Separately, ten sheriff's deputies filed a federal lawsuit in May 2025 alleging a Pennsylvania State Police trooper launched frivolous criminal investigations against them following friction during joint felony warrant operations, probes that had previously placed deputies on administrative leave and restricted their overtime eligibility.
Not everyone describes the relationship as beyond repair. Commissioner Doug Chew said he speaks with Albert almost daily in an effort to build a bridge between the two offices, and he believes the disputes can still be resolved. Chew said dwindling county revenue sources make it necessary to bring overtime spending down to a level consistent with what the county can afford, but he stopped short of calling the relationship with Albert broken. The K-9 program remains unapproved, leaving the dispute unresolved.
