2 counties collecting fees?

[sunshinee50]

What is the name of your state? PA

My fiance and I moved to Johnstown, PA with permission and with a transfer from Lancaster County, PA. He is set up to make phone in's here and has a payment plan set up with this County for supervisory fees. Lancaster County has been sending him notices through a collections agency that he needs to pay them administrative costs and if he doesn't he could be served a warrant. Now they are asking him to come out there, a 4 hour drive, for a meeting with a probation officer. He has no license, no job due to a disability issue and no other means of transportation. Can 2 counties make him pay fees? Can the original county make him appear when they want? Once there is a transfer does the other county have the right to expect to see him? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sunshinee50]

Okay he doesn't have to appear on Monday. He had already arranged a job interview for that day before he got the notice to appear but was going to cancel it if they insisted he had to come to the probation meeting no matter what. He called them, told them about the interview and they said it was okay, just call and let them know how it went. They were very very nice this time! Now back to paying fees to 2 counties, that we still have not got an answer yet. Anyone want to shed some light on that one?

 

[Kane]

Sorry I can't be of more help. In Texas, you pay fees to the county that's actually supervising you - the county where you live. But I don't know how they do things in Penn.

Have you explained the situation to both probation offices? What do they say?

 

[sunshinee50]

Finally, at least someone replied. Thanks very much! Yes he explained what was going on to the manager of the probation office here and he told my fiance that Lancaster would try to do this. He pays Cambria, where we live now, supervisory fees. Lancaster changed the wording to their notices to read "administrative costs". Cambria said that this is the way Lancaster got around it and that there was nothing he could do. He even tried talking to Lancaster himself for my fiance, but they won't budge. My fiance has spoke to Lancaster numerous times but they develope an attitude and refuse to talk about anything else other than "now what kind of payment plan do you want and when will you send your first payment". He has payed off all his fines. These are projectory fees for keeping his file in their office until 2007 when the probation is over. He had 3 DUI's and a probation violation (before we met) but has been clean and sober for over 2 years now.

 

[Kane]

It doesn't sound like he has a lot of options.

I can't tell you if they'll really violate him for failing to pay these fees, but if it were me, I wouldn't want to chance it.

He might consider writing a letter to the judge in his court. Unfortunately, the judge may already know about it.

How much money are we talking about?

 

[sunshinee50]

It is a little over $400 total with them wanting him to pay monthly payments as well as pay this county monthly payments, which is double supervisory or administrative costs. When he payed his fines off he was willing to pay everything, even the projected fees, but the girl at the treasury office in the probation department talked him out of it because she said he could get off his probation early for good behavior and then he would wait a long time to get his money back so he only paid the fines. Lancaster county also owes him some restitution money from a stolen guitar of which he won the case for and he has waited over 2 years for that money. That is $300, so if they thought about it long enough they could use that to pay these fees with him only owing $100. Thank you very much for your input.