Request By:
Mr. Steve Schwager, Law Clerk
Jefferson County Attorney's Office
Citizens Plaza
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: K. Gail Leeco, Assistant Attorney General
You have inquired as to who is responsible for the payment of an invoice from Pennsylvania for $2,214.00 for the housing of a prisoner while he was awaiting extradition to Kentucky. Jefferson County had initiated the extradition.
Interstate extradition is governed generally by federal legislation, 18 U.S.C. § 3181 et seq. , and more specifically by state legislation, the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, KRS 440.150 et seq. and KRS 440.090. As you noted in your letter, 18 U.S.C. § 3195 provides, "All costs and expenses incurred in any extradition proceeding in apprehending, securing, and transmitting a fugitive shall be paid by the demanding authority." Thus, the federal statute requires Kentucky to assume whatever costs are incurred by Pennsylvania in complying with the Kentucky extradition request. Housing would be one of these costs.
The method of payment of such costs is governed by state statute. KRS 440.090 provides:
When the governor of this state makes requisition upon the governor of another state for a fugitive from justice, the person named in the requisition as the agent of this state shall, unless a different condition is contained in his commission, be allowed as compensation from the state treasury for his services a mileage allowance at the same rate fixed by regulations adopted by the commissioner of the executive department for finance and administration pursuant to KRS 44.060, plus an additional sum calculated at the rate of five cents (5 ) per mile for the distance he travels to and from jail of the county designated in the proclamation to the place where the fugitive is arrested, and any other necessary expenses he pays in reclaiming and returning the fugitive.
This language has previously been interpreted by this office to include fees assessed by the asylum state -- here Pennsylvania. "[KRS 440.090] means that the agent must be reimbursed for the actual expense of feeding and housing the prisoner, necessary telephone calls, and any fees which he has to pay the asylum state in order to obtain custody of the prisoner. " OAG 67-379. Thus, in our opinion, the invoice from Pennsylvania for housing the prisoner should be submitted to the state treasury as an expense in reclaiming and returning the fugitive.
One other point should be noted. Under the federal statute, Kentucky is required to reimburse Pennsylvania for "all costs and expenses" incurred by that state in complying with the Kentucky extradition request. Therefore, Pennsylvania must be paid the entire amount of the bill. However, under the state statute, the state treasury is only required to reimburse the agent for the "necessary expenses" he pays in claiming and returning the fugitive. It may be that some portion of the bill for housing was not a "necessary expense. " If Jefferson County or the agent is found to have unduly delayed in taking custody of the prisoner after being notified that he was available, that portion of the bill attributable to the delay may not be a "necessary expense. " If the expense is deemed not to be a "necessary expense, " the agent is not entitled to reimbursement.