Feb. 22—Westmoreland County court officials scrambled this week to find proper housing for juveniles who must remain incarcerated as they await trial on charges of serious adult offenses.

As many as eight teens charged in Westmoreland County cases were being held in the youthful offenders pod in Allegheny County Jail, but recent space issues at the Pittsburgh lockup forced local officials to seek alternative housing for those juveniles.

"We had a contract with Allegheny County, but they've told us that, because of the influx of kids in their center, they had to send ours back," Westmoreland Court Administrator Amy DeMatt said.

To comply with federal laws prohibiting juveniles from having any contact with adult offenders, Westmoreland rented space for the past several years in a special unit at the Allegheny County Jail for juveniles charged with serious offenses, such as homicide.

Officials said Westmoreland County Prison cannot meet guidelines that juveniles and adults have no direct or indirect contact.

Meanwhile, local leaders were reluctant to house youths charged with serious offenses at the 16-bed juvenile detention facility at Westmoreland's Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield because of security concerns.

Rich Gordon, director of Westmoreland's juvenile detention center, did not respond to requests for comment.

DeMatt said six youths, including several teens charged with homicide, were transferred to the county's juvenile detention center. Two other juveniles were shipped across the state to a facility in Lehigh County.

Ken Noga, attorney for Amir Kennedy, 15, one of seven adults and teens charged in a murder last summer in New Kensington, said his client's recent transfer across Pennsylvania will handicap the preparation for his defense.

"Lehigh County is 4 1/2 to 5 hours from Westmoreland County, and this will make it impossible for he and I to meet. I do not think preparing a (15-year-old) for a murder trial by Skype is appropriate," Noga said. "This is a serious impediment to prepare for trial."

An Arnold teen charged with five counts of attempted murder in connection with a 2021 shooting in Arnold was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a hearing on a defense request to transfer his case to juvenile court. That hearing was postponed in part because of the travel issues associated with the 16-year-old's transfer this month to a jail in Lehigh County.

Westmoreland Common Pleas President Judge Christopher Feliciani, who is presiding over Kennedy's case, said Allegheny County's decision to transfer juveniles back to their home counties has left the local leaders in a bind.

Court officials met Tuesday with the county commissioners to seek solutions to the housing crisis.

"We are working expeditiously to get things accomplished at our juvenile center," Feliciani said.

Commissioner Doug Chew said the county has contracts in place with other facilities throughout Pennsylvania to house local youthful offenders.

"Every county in the commonwealth experiences challenges with placement of youthful offenders and juvenile detainees," Chew wrote in an email. "The goal is to have any offender detained in the county where the charges are filed, but occasionally other facilities have to be used for a variety of reasons, including a county needing their own beds."

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .