COLUMBUS, Ohio– The discovery of 16 siblings who authorities say were held in a rural Ohio home for years in squalid conditions is straining county resources as it works to process their parents and two grandparents and provide care for so many children at once.

The local prosecutor said the cost of medical care required also for one of the defendants would have bankrupted Vinton County, prompting the court to change the grandfather’s bond and release him from jail on his own recognizance to receive care at a hospital so the county would not have to pay for it. Meanwhile, the county has sought help from other prosecutors in the criminal case and is counting on approval next week of $1 million from the state to help care for children, including some who have medical needs or cannot speak.

Vinton is Ohio’s smallest county and one of its poorest, a rambling 415-square-mile (1,075-square-kilometer) patch of isolated Appalachian terrain with one traffic light and a single grocery store. That makes the Siders family case “an unprecedented child welfare crisis,” state officials said.

Allowing it requires action by both local and state officials.

On Tuesday, Gary Siders Sr., 73, was released from jail after his bond was adjusted so that it did not require advance payment, and he was transported out of the county for medical care.

Vinton County Prosecutor William Archer Jr. said Siders had fallen in jail and it became apparent that “he has a serious medical condition that requires specialized care.” At the regional jail, the costs of that care would fall on the county, Archer said.

“Based on the information provided to the county, your medical care could bankrupt Vinton County,” Archer told reporters Wednesday. “We weren’t going to put that burden on our local taxpayers as well.”

Siders is charged with felony child endangerment. Also charged were his wife, Christina Siders, 67; his son Gary Siders Jr., 36; and his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Siders, 33, the children’s mother. They pleaded not guilty and some of their lawyers warned against jumping to conclusions before more is known about what happened.

Vinton County Common Pleas Judge Laina Fetherolf Rogers made clear in her order that if the elder Siders’ health improves enough for him to leave the hospital, the GPS tracking device he will be required to wear will also be “paid for at the State’s expense.”

“A lot of small counties like us are in the same boat as Vinton,” said Mike Davis, prosecutor for Pike County, another financially troubled southern Ohio county. “If a person has a medical problem, do we pay the medical bills and keep them in jail and spend our budget, or do we let them out and risk something worse happening?”

Archer emphasized that authorities determined that the strategy did not put the public at risk in the case of Gary Siders Sr., given his health condition and the fact that the case strictly involved family members.

The judge this week granted Archer’s requests to bring in three special prosecutors — Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson, Deputy Attorney General Kara Keating and Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, an expert in child abuse cases — to share the burden of the case “without compensation.” That means their offices will cover their own costs.

Vinton County Sheriff Ryan Cain also requested assistance from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to records released by Wilson’s office, which is not unusual.

“Money is green and it’s absolute. You either have it or you don’t,” said Davis, who said he could relate to Archer after Pike County had to deal with a major criminal case: the 2016 Rhoden family murders.

He said the demands of a major criminal trial are felt throughout a small county’s government operation, as workloads are transferred among government office staff, often just one or two people, and larger spaces and reliable Internet service must be secured for the influx of out-of-town investigators and media.

Removing the 16 siblings from their home also instantly doubled the number of children in foster care in Vinton County, a daunting prospect for a county with about 12,600 residents and the smallest budget among Ohio’s 88 counties.

On Monday, a state legislative panel is expected to approve a request from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to provide $1 million in additional state cash to Vinton County to help it address the “emerging and developing child protection crisis.”

The Siders children ranged in age from 18 months to 18 years, and some were described as “wild” and unable to speak. Authorities said their medical conditions varied and alleged they had been kept in a room approximately 12 feet by 12 feet for several years. Two of them were airlifted to receive hospital care.

Archer did not elaborate, but said this week that all the children are “safe and being cared for.”

The oldest was born in May 2008, two months after Gary Siders Jr., then 18, and Elizabeth, then 15, crossed the state line to get married at the Mason County Courthouse in West Virginia, according to court records, which also show her parents gave consent. Since then, she has had pregnancies most years, including several sets of twins, records show.

The state Department of Children and Youth estimates placement costs for siblings will range between $150 and $250 per child per day. That adds up to about $850,000 a year, or more than three times the amount generated by the Vinton County tax that is divided between children’s and senior services.

The money will allow the agency to “ensure vulnerable children receive the safety, treatment and support they urgently need,” she said. Additional expenses, such as court costs and police overtime associated with the case, can also be covered by state money.

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Associated Press writer Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.