Buck v. Beard, 834 A.2d 696 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2003)

Cases | Buck v. Beard, 834 A.2d 696 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2003) | 2018

The defendant was sentenced to a three- to six-year term at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, and ordered to pay fines, costs and restitution in the amount of $10,000. When the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (Department) began making deductions from his inmate account, the defendant challenged the deductions. The court found that the Department was authorized to make monetary deductions from the inmate’s account and to determine the percentage of funds to be deducted. The court distinguished this case from Boofer, noting that the deductions in Boofer were not based on the transmission of a court order assessing fines, costs, or restitution. In this case, the sentencing court’s judgment enabled the Department to deduct the funds from the inmate’s account.