(Moscow, ID) An Idaho court is asking for a huge budget increase in the next fiscal year to cover costs associated with Bryan Kohberger‘s case.
Kohberger, 29, is charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary regarding the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in a rental home near the college campus in Moscow on November 13, 2022.
The search for a suspect captivated the nation. Six weeks after the killings, police arrested Kohberger, then a graduate student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, at his parents home in Pennsylvania after investigators pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say tied him to the murders.
The judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf last year, but a trial date has yet to be set.
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported that the Latah County District Court is seeking to increase its trial expenses to $150,000 for the 2025 fiscal year. The court’s 2024 budget for trial expenses, which include travel and lodging costs for jurors and bailiffs, was $3,000.
The court has requested to increase its jury supplies budget from $3,500 to $50,000. The budget request to pay for the travel costs of witnesses who testify in court was $25,000, also significantly higher than the $3,500 allocated in the 2024 budget.
Bryan Kohberger enters a courtroom in Moscow, Idaho, on October 26, 2023. An Idaho court is asking for a huge budget increase to cover costs associated with Kohberger’s case. KAI EISELEIN/POOL-GETTY IMAGES
Kohberger’s attorneys are seeking to move the trial, arguing that a fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County due to the “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations made about Mr. Kohberger to the public by media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges.”
Tonya Dodge, Latah County’s clerk of the court, told Latah County Commissioners that even if the trial is moved to another venue, Latah County will have to reimburse the county where the trial takes place for juror costs, according to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Newsweek reached out to Dodge for comment via email.
The Latah County Commissioners are expected to adopt the annual budget later in the summer.
Last year, prosecutors also asked for a bigger budget than most years due to the Kohberger case.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson requested $135,000 for trial expenses, an increase from the $15,000 that has been consistently budgeted in previous years.
He said he and his office were trying to keep budget projections conservative but “we need to make sure that we don’t cut corners on anything with regard to making sure this case is handled properly.”
