CLEARFIELD – A prior court decision that made the Department of Corrections responsible for the cost of trial involving inmates who committed crimes while incarcerated has been upheld, according to Kim Kesner, county solicitor.
Kesner said that the DOC is responsible for paying the county in which a state correctional institution is housed for court costs and such. Kesner said that Montgomery County, the lead county in the court case, asked other counties involved in that case to pass a memorandum of understanding between the counties and the DOC. Kesner stated it involved standard operating procedures for billing and costs.
“We are now in a position to start billing for costs,” said Kesner.
Claudia Read, county controller, indicated that the majority of the money would come from the Office of the Public Defender. Kesner recommended Read contact Montgomery County to discuss their billing methods to see how Clearfield County might go about billing SCI Houtzdale.