Bucks Co Sheriff overcharging for LTCF?

[Curmudgeon]

It has come to my attention from a post on another forum that a non-resident was charged $24 for a PA LTCF from Bucks County. The web site shows the same thing, $20 ($19 +$1) for a resident, and $24 ($23 + $1) for non-resident...

http://www.buckscounty.org/governmen...onsPermit.aspx

I am not aware of any allowance in the UFA for the additional $4 charge for non-residents, does anyone else have any experience with this, or know whether or not this additional charge is valid?

Are any other Sheriffs charging more for non-res licenses than for res licenses?

[Curmudgeon]

The section of the Uniform Firearms Act relevant to licensing and fees is:

18 Pa.C.S. § 6109: Licenses



(h) Fee.-- (1) In addition to fees described in paragraphs (2)(ii) and (3), the fee for a license to carry a firearm is $19. This includes all of the following: (i) A renewal notice processing fee of $1.50. (ii) An administrative fee of $5 under section 14(2) of the act of July 6, 1984 (P.L. 614, No. 127), [FN2] known as the Sheriff Fee Act.


(3) An additional fee of $1 shall be paid by the applicant for a license to carry a firearm and shall be remitted by the sheriff to the Firearms License Validation System Account, which is hereby established as a special restricted receipt account within the General Fund of the State Treasury. The account shall be used for purposes under subsection (l). Moneys credited to the account and any investment income accrued are hereby appropriated on a continuing basis to the Pennsylvania State Police. (4) No fee other than that provided by this subsection or the Sheriff Fee Act may be assessed by the sheriff for the performance of any background check made pursuant to this act. (5) The fee is payable to the sheriff to whom the application is submitted and is payable at the time of application for the license. (6) Except for the administrative fee of $5 under section 14(2) of the Sheriff Fee Act, all other fees shall be refunded if the application is denied but shall not be refunded if a license is issued and subsequently revoked. (7) A person who sells or attempts to sell a license to carry a firearm for a fee in excess of the amounts fixed under this subsection commits a summary offense.

[HiredGoon]

That's strange. I wouldn't think any extra time or effort is required for non-res for the sheriff to justify that extra charge.

Not that he is allowed to charge extra anyway for non-res.

IMO, he is in violation of the statute.

[tl_3237]

(4) No fee other than that provided by this subsection or the Sheriff Fee Act may be assessed by the sheriff for the performance of any background check made pursuant to this act.

Just taking a wild ass guess because I couldn't find anything directly in the Sheriff Fee Act (42 P.S. §21101-20).

There may be an anticipated charge for cost incurred in contacting the out-of-state LE records keeper pursuant to:

42 PS § 21119. Costs to be additional


In addition to fees provided for in this act, the sheriff shall be paid costs, charges and expenses incident to the performance of an act required by court, order, statute, rule or regulation including, but not limited to, printing costs, publication costs, services of experts, watchmen, postage and mileage, which shall be costs to be paid by the plaintiff, petitioner or person requiring them to be incurred.

I also checked a few sheriff websites and found no mention of their charging more for non-residents.

Now I'm curious also.

[knight0334]

Just taking a wild ass guess because I couldn't find anything directly in the Sheriff Fee Act (42 P.S. §21101-20).

There may be an anticipated charge for cost incurred in contacting the out-of-state LE records keeper pursuant to:



I also checked a few sheriff websites and found no mention of their charging more for non-residents.

Now I'm curious also.

If the Sheriff mails the approved license back the mailing costs could be justified within that additional $4 as a part of the Sheriff Fee. (certified/registered mail??)

I know if I was a non-resident, and already had to make one trip to PA to apply - I'd pay $4 to have it mailed back to me.

[Curmudgeon]

I'm happy to see that the Sheriff of Buck's is at least processing non-res apps, unlike some Sheriffs. But I get a little embarrassed when telling folks what the deal is and then have to find something like this going on.

A person walks in with a $20 bill and suddenly they don't have enough money, and Bucks only accepts cash. And I'm betting that 42 PS § 21119 is only addressing exact and specific costs incurred.

[Curmudgeon]

If the Sheriff mails the approved license back the mailing costs could be justified within that additional $4 as a part of the Sheriff Fee. (certified/registered mail??)

I know if I was a non-resident, and already had to make one trip to PA to apply - I'd pay $4 to have it mailed back to me.

Then they can stipulate that, and give folks the option of picking it up in person and paying the $20. But the web site doesn't mention anything about mailing fees. Additionally, it doesn't cost any more to mail a letter to an address in say, Virginia, than it does to mail to an address in PA.

[Jim8300]

The additional fee could be one that was added to cover additional expenses. There is a bill I heard of a while ago and found it here:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/...r=1071&pn=1350

SB 1071 would give a resident the option to obtain a LTCF in a contiguous county. I don't know if it went through or not. If it does, they may have added an additional fee for out of county residents. Search the Pa. bills and laws to see if changes were made.

I hope that there is a provision to charge out of county applicants an additional fee. If the county cannot cover the additional cost for out of county applicants with a fee paid by the applicant, who will pick up the increased cost? The answer is the county residents. I don't want to pay sheriff staff to process out of county applications without being reimbursed accordingly.

[PocketProtector]

I believe my last one in 2009 was $46

[Curmudgeon]

The additional fee could be one that was added to cover additional expenses. There is a bill I heard of a while ago and found it here:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/...r=1071&pn=1350

SB 1071 would give a resident the option to obtain a LTCF in a contiguous county. I don't know if it went through or not. If it does, they may have added an additional fee for out of county residents. Search the Pa. bills and laws to see if changes were made.

I hope that there is a provision to charge out of county applicants an additional fee. If the county cannot cover the additional cost for out of county applicants with a fee paid by the applicant, who will pick up the increased cost? The answer is the county residents. I don't want to pay sheriff staff to process out of county applications without being reimbursed accordingly.

That bill was referred to Judiciary Committee.