Clearfield County judges concerned paperwork is leading to longer sentences

People being arrested in Clearfield County may be spending time behind bars when they shouldn’t be.

Both Clearfield County judges have signed a letter to prothonotary Brian Spencer regarding ongoing problems with paperwork being properly processed.

The problems have led to people serving longer sentences or being taken to jail after their bench warrants have been lifted, according to the statement issued Tuesday.

According to the judges’ letter, Clearfield County Jail Warden Greg Collins has repeatedly voiced concerns about delays in receiving sentences, parole orders and other documents that lead to prisoners not being released on time, being transferred to state prison late and other problems that impact the county’s checkbook and cause overcrowding.

“This unacceptable delay and up to 60-day backlog in necessary criminal paperwork is caused by mismanagement of the Clerk of Courts Office by Prothonotary/Clerk Brian Spencer,” wrote judges Fredric Ammerman and Paul Cherry, who said they have written letters to Spencer about the problems for months.

“Mr. Spencer has been asked to provide a written plan to the Court as to how he proposes to fix the problems and eliminate the backlog. Mr. Spencer has refused to provide his proposals to remedy the backlog and instead has claimed all the problems have been caused by the judges, court administrator’s office and court reporters,” the judges wrote, calling Spencer’s accusations “outrageous, nonsensical and false.”

The judges plan to fix the problem by issuing administrative orders with deadlines and set schedules.

Spencer released a response late Wednesday, claiming this action is politically motivated because he is running for re-election.

“Although Judge Ammerman has been contentious in his relationship with me since I was first elected in 2014, he has noticeably, unfairly and irresponsibly ramped up his attack beginning with the primary election season,” he said. “It is my opinion that these attacks upon me and my staff are not done in the spirit of bettering the efficiency or effectiveness of the courthouse operations, but rather are partisan political attacks aimed at influencing the outcome of an election.”

Spencer insisted that the delays are “quite frankly, not occurring.”

“There is empirical data that shows my office has met all the standards that has been set before me by earlier administrations,” he said.

According to the warden, the current population of the Clearfield County Jail is 149 inmates. The jail’s capacity is 139. No inmates are being housed out of county at this time.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Clearfield County judges concerned paperwork is leading to longer sentences."