Kohberger case means big budget requests
Latah County district court and prosecutor’s office budgeting for large expenses because of potential trial
- By Anthony Kuipers Moscow-Pullman Daily News
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- Jun 12, 2024 Updated 10 hrs ago
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MOSCOW — Latah County District Court is requesting significant increases in its budget to prepare for costs associated with the Bryan Kohberger case and its potential trial.
The court wants to increase its trial expense budget to $150,000 in fiscal year 2025. That is a nearly 5,000% increase from fiscal year 2024’s budget of $3,000.
Trial expenses include travel and lodging costs for jurors and bailiffs. Those jurors will need supplies, including meals, which is why the court also requested a large increase in its jury supplies budget from $3,500 to $50,000
The budget request to cover witness fees is also substantially higher than last year’s. For this, the court requested a budget of $25,000 this year compared to the $3,500 budget last year. This is largely to pay for travel costs of witnesses who are scheduled to testify in court.
Kohberger’s trial date has not yet been set, and his attorneys are planning to argue for moving the trial outside Latah County in the interest of finding a more impartial jury pool.
Court Clerk Tonya Dodge informed the commissioners that even if the trial is moved, Latah County still has to reimburse the county where the trial is taking place for juror costs.
Latah County’s Financial Officer Christine Nauman said the county can pay for these budget increases through fines and fees collected by the court, and with money allocated from Idaho liquor sale revenue.
The Latah County Prosecutor Office’s budget is also influenced by the Kohberger trial. Just like last year, Prosecutor Bill Thompson requested a trial expense budget of $135,000. Before the Kohberger case, Thompson’s office typically requested $15,000 for trial expenses.
Thompson said his office’s expenses will increase if the trial is moved to a different county, because Latah County will have to pay for his staff’s travel and lodging costs.
Both Thompson and Dodge said it is difficult to anticipate exactly how much the Kohberger trial will cost at this point.
The commissioners are expected to adopt the county’s annual budget later this summer.
Kuipers can be reached at [email protected].
