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Monday, April 03, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - Three trials in the Camm murder case have cost Floyd County taxpayers about $1.8 million

Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier Journal writes today:

The three trials in the Camm murder case have cost Floyd County taxpayers about $1.8million — and the meter is still running.

Floyd County Auditor Teresa Plaiss said she expects the overall cost of David Camm's two trials, along with the trial of co-defendant Charles Boney, to reach at least $2 million.

And that doesn't include the cost of any appeals or additional trials, if the appeals succeed.

The cost of the second Camm trial — roughly $1 million — amounts to 10 percent or so of the county's general fund budget. It could wind up affecting several major projects, including a jail expansion.

Larry Landis, executive director of the state Public Defender Council, said the appeals could add $200,000.

"There is no way a county ... can budget and plan for a catastrophe like the Camm case," he said. * * *

"Anytime there is a murder case in a small county, and they bring in national experts, it's a tremendous strain on a county budget," said David Bottorff, executive director of the Association of Indiana Counties. * * *

Landis said some of the county's costs can be reimbursed from the state Public Defense Fund, but the fund covers no more than 40 percent of the costs billed to the county public defender's office, Landis said. And with only $10million available statewide, it's unlikely that there will be enough to repay the $230,000 for which Floyd County is eligible.

He and others were unsuccessful this year in urging the General Assembly to pick up a greater share of the court costs borne by county governments — an issue that almost certainly will come up again.

"For a small county," Landis said, "this is an extraordinary burden."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 3, 2006 09:34 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government