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Price tag for raid of sect is $12.6 million and rising
By TRISH CHOATE Scripps Howard News Service
Saturday, March 28, 2009
WASHINGTON — A very modern test awaited the women and girls in old-fashioned prairie dresses and the men and boys in long-sleeved shirts and pants after the April raid on their home in Schleicher County.
The state’s tab for DNA testing to determine family relationships is close to $60,000, or about $97 each on average for 599 samples.
The tests ordered by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther are among nearly $13 million of documented expenses — and mounting — for the state’s legal battles with the polygamist sect that has a stronghold at the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado.
Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the agency hasn’t released figures yet on expenses for its investigation and legal work after the children returned to their parents in June.
“The cost decreased quite a bit when the children were returned because the expense of foster care was very high,” Crimmins said. “And of course, when the sheltering operation went on, that was very expensive.”
Personnel from agencies ranging from the Department of Public Safety to the Texas Forest Service converged on San Angelo after Child Protective Services removed hundreds of children from sect parents out of concern they were being abused.
CPS and law-enforcement authorities raided the YFZ Ranch for a week starting on April 3. That resulted in a huge child custody case ultimately involving 439 children.
State appeals judges ordered the children returned to their parents, and ordered that CPS deal with each case separately. But that was not before authorities launched an extensive housing and foster care operation that cost the state $12.44 million.
The city of San Angelo’s bill for housing, caring for and protecting sect children and some of their mothers added to $713,312.83, said Bill Smith, San Angelo chief accountant.
Most of it was for police officers’ time, Smith said. The state was prompt in reimbursing the city for “every bit of it” by August.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office counts the DNA tests among its direct expenses, along with an additional $164,895 for travel and other expenses related to the ongoing criminal investigation.
“Ongoing” means costs are still adding up, just as the cases in civil court are continuing expenses.
But personnel at the AG’s office have absorbed the FLDS criminal cases into their duties, said Jerry Strickland, AG’s Office spokesman.
Among the expenses:
Texas Attorney General’s Office: $223,420 (includes $165,000 in travel and other direct expenses for the ongoing criminal investigation, and $58,420 for DNA testing)
Overtime: $3.2 million (from eight government agencies, from Health and Human Services to the forest service)
Travel: $1.72 million
Goods and Services: $4.2 million (includes costs for transport vehicles, command center shelter and food, ambulances, fuel, equipment rental, janitorial services, other supplies
Foster care and other placement: $3.34 million (includes security and Medicaid)
Sources: Texas Attorney General’s Office and “Eldorado Investigation, a Report from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services” released in December 2008
Note: Numbers are rounded.
Washington regional correspondent Trish Choate can be reached at 202-408-2709 or choatet@shns.com.
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/mar/28/expenses-mount-for-states-legal-battles/
Emphasis added by H4K Editor |