HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice has confirmed Broadwater County is asking for more than $100,000 in funding aid for the prosecution of Lloyd Barrus, bringing current legal costs for the case up to approximately $241,000.
Barrus is the man charged with deliberate homicide by accountability for the death of Deputy Mason Moore.
Cory Swanson, Broadwater County attorney, has requested $25,000 each from Granite, Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Powell, Butte-Silver Bow and Jefferson counties.
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Barrus is accused of leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase through those counties with his son Marshall Barrus. That case ended east of Missoula on Interstate 90, where Marshall Barrus was killed in a shootout with officers.
The Montana Department of Justice said the requested funds will help cover the costs of prosecuting Lloyd Barrus.
On April 29, Judge Kathy Seeley ordered that Barrus be medicated to stand trial, but the defense counsel appealed the ruling to the Montana Supreme Court.
Barrus is currently being held at the Forensic Mental Health Facility in Galen.
This case is being prosecuted cooperatively between the Broadwater County Attorney’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office.
-John Riley reporting for MTN News
