The Adams County Sheriff’s Department has a “new” prisoner transport bus. It is expected to save county taxpayers money, and already has not cost them anything, Sheriff James Muller said Friday morning.   “You could say the inmates paid for it,” he quipped.  

The used bus was purchased and converted with fees paid by defendants sheriff deputies have picked up on magistrate (district judge) warrants during the past four years.  

Last week, the bus was used for the first time in its role transporting county prison inmates to appearances in the county Court of Common Pleas.    

It is an operation that previous started at 6 a.m. the morning of an arraignment-and-sentencing session or plea day, and required the all the sheriff’s department vehicles, and extra deputies — including some who would otherwise have been off duty. Muller said they would make at least three trips each, and the called-in officers would be paid overtime for what sometimes turned into a nearly two-hour process.  

Last week, Muller — he is currently the department’s only qualified driver — transported the prisoners with two deputies. Jail staff had the scheduled inmates handcuffed and shackled, waiting for the bus. Forty-five minutes after leaving the office, the three officers were back at the courthouse with the prisoners scheduled to appear before county judges.  

Scheduling also is important at the State Correctional Institution Classification Center in Camp Hill, where authorities decide which of the state’s 23 institutions will become home for adult men sentenced to two or more years in prison by surrounding common pleas courts.  

Last week, the bus carried 20 inmates to Camp Hill.  

“We have never, since I’ve been in that sheriff’s office, taken 20 people in one shot,” said the 13-year department veteran.  

Previously, SCI prisoners would be transported three at a time in Sheriff’s Department patrol cars. And there was a time when prisoners could be transported to Camp Hill at the sheriff’s convenience. Now, with a large number of people being sent to the state facilities, “they tell you when they want them, because they’re so busy,” Muller said.  

“There’s a lot of coordination going on,” he said. “It isn’t simple anymore.”   The 40-passenger bus was purchased and modified with fees defendants paid on arrest warrants issued by the county’s four magisterial district judges.  

“That’s money we can use that I don’t have to put in my budget for things,” Muller explained.  

When the sheriff or his deputies arrest someone on a warrant issued by the county Court of Common Pleas, it is considered part of their courthouse duty, and the department does not share in the fees. But each warrant issued by the four magisterial district judges carries extra fees, payable to the constable – or sheriff’s deputy – who serves it.  

When constables serve magistrate warrants, if the defendant does not pay the fee, the county pays the constable for the service. When the sheriff’s department makes the arrest, if the defendant does not pay, the county does not pay the sheriff.  

“If I do get paid (by the defendant),” Muller said, “I get the money.”  

As a result, offenders, many of whom become prison inmates, paid for the bus, bars on its windows, a cage inside, and the paint work outside.  

“It didn’t cost the county anything except the insurance,” Muller said, adding he paid for his commercial drivers license, which is required to drive a bus.  

Muller has plans for future warrant fees. He would like to purchase pepper guns for the prisoner transport bus, and enhancements to prisoner movement security in the courthouse.  

He also plans to mount pictures of past sheriffs in the department office, and has begun contacting area school art departments to have students design a distinctive shoulder patch for sheriff department uniforms.  

“This is their community,” he said of the effort to “get people involved in law enforcement, get them to understand, ‘Hey, you’re not the bad guy.’”   The pictures, patches and a recently established rank structure that offers advancement and responsibility, will enhance professionalism and pride among the deputies, and reduce turnover that had plagued the department, Muller believes. Currently, the department staff comprises 13 officers, including one on military duty in Iraq, three sergeants, one lieutenant and Muller. The sergeants are assigned to supervise night shift, real estate tax sales and courtroom security, respectively.  

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