A former Lancaster County district attorney did not have the power to exceed the legal spend that the county commission budgeted for the office, a Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled in a case clarifying questions about how prosecutors are meant to pay for legal fees.

The unanimous decision from a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel also means that the Philadelphia-based law firm Kleinbard will not be able to recover nearly $70,000 in legal fees for work it performed for the District Attorney’s Office in 2019.