BEDFORD - It's been a week since Joseph W. Clark was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Holly Notestine, and Bedford County officials are just starting to sort out the costs.
Clark's first trial earlier this year, which ended in a hung jury, cost about $63,000, more than double the $30,000 previous commissioners budgeted, Chairman Michael Herline said.
Nobody planned on a second trial, Herline said, which will add to the shortfall.
Although the final bill for the Dauphin County jury's stay in Bedford has not been calculated, Herline expects it to be much less than the first trial.
''Based on the first trial, I expect it to be maybe $30,000,'' he said. ''The first one went on longer.''
In January, 12 jurors and four alternates from Butler County were brought in for 20 days.
Dauphin County jurors spent about 15 days in the area.
In addition, the remaining alternates at the second trial were dismissed prior to deliberations.
''From what I've been told, the budget this year was already tight,'' Herline said. ''We have to look at how to move funds from other departments. It will probably also be addressed in next year's budget.''
He said real estate and per capita taxes could be affected next year.
In neighboring Blair County, the 2006 weeklong Miguel Padilla triple murder trial, which featured a Cumberland County jury, cost the county about $50,000.
Another blow is the lack of funding for full-time district attorneys in the latest state budget, a sore subject at Tuesday's commissioners meeting.
District Attorney William Higgins campaigned to change the then part-time position to full time. State legislation in 2005 indicated that the state would pay for 65 percent of full-time DA salaries.
The lack of funding was called a ''$100,000 curve ball'' by Commissioner Steven Howsare.
''They left us holding the bag again. It's hard to come up with $100,000 that you're not supposed to come up with at this point of the year,'' he said.
Higgins said commissioners could - and should - file a lawsuit if the 2005 salary statute is not met.
''The bottom line is that county taxpayers will not be making up for the shortfall in Gov. [Ed] Rendell's budget because the law does not permit it,'' he said. ''It's deeply unfortunate that the governor has failed to honor the commitment he made to the County Commissioners Association in 2005, but more importantly, his actions are irresponsible.''
Mirror Staff Writer Wendy McCardle is at 946-7520.
