DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Counties sue over inmate prosecutions

The state prison system will pay for expenses only when there is an escape.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Twenty-one counties that have at least one state prison, including Mercer County, want the Department of Corrections to pay for prosecuting inmates when crimes are committed inside the institutions.
The counties argue that a 4-year-old change to state law requires the state to pick up the tab for court personnel, witness fees, court-appointed lawyers and other expenses whenever a crime occurs inside a state prison.
A spokeswoman for the prison system, however, said its lawyers interpret the law differently.
Before 2000, when a state inmate committed a crime, the county in which the prison is located could bill the county that sentenced the inmate for the cost of prosecution.
Mercer County is home to the State Regional Correctional Facility in Findley Township.
Montgomery County, which has Graterford State Prison, tried to bill the state for 21 criminal matters but was denied payment, according to an 11-page lawsuit dated Monday.
The counties want a Commonwealth Court judge to interpret the statute and issue a declaratory judgment.
The Commonwealth Court filing office had no record of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon, but Montgomery County officials said it was shipped by FedEx on Monday.
Official response
Corrections spokeswoman Sheila Ridilla said the Legislature intended to have the state pay only for costs incurred when inmates escape.
"We have told the counties that we would be happy to pay for escape-related charges. And we look forward to having an opportunity to explain our position in court," Ridilla said Tuesday.
The 2000 amendment was prompted by a pair of highly publicized escapes in 1999, according to a Dec. 31 letter to Montgomery County President Judge S. Gerald Corso from Michael A. Farnan, the Corrections Department's chief counsel. The letter is among the lawsuit's exhibits.
"Prior to the 2000 amendment to that statute, costs and expenses associated with the prevention of escapes were the responsibility of the sentencing county, even though the prisoner may not have been serving in that county or even though the sentencing county may not have had anything to do with the escape from the state institution," Farnan said.
Montgomery County Solicitor Barry M. Miller, who signed the lawsuit, said the county has unpaid bills of about $65,000 going back two or three years that the state should cover.
"It's a burden on Montgomery, and we're one of the wealthier counties in the state," Miller said. He was unable to provide an estimate of the other counties' costs.