(a) The commissioner of public safety is responsible for transporting a prisoner to and from the court having jurisdiction over the prisoner and for delivering a prisoner to a correctional facility upon temporary or final commitment by a court or upon transfer of a prisoner from one correctional facility to another either inside or outside the state.

(b) The commissioner of corrections shall make available return transportation to the place of arrest for a prisoner who is released from custody in a state correctional facility.

(c) The commissioner of public safety shall make available return transportation to the place of arrest for a prisoner who is released from custody before admission to a state correctional facility.

(d) The commissioner of corrections shall adopt regulations governing the furnishing of transportation, discharge payments, and clothing to prisoners upon release from a state correctional facility at any stage of a criminal proceeding.

(e) Except as provided in (f) of this section or as necessary in a criminal action pending against the prisoner, a court may not order the transportation of a prisoner.

(f) A court may order a prisoner who is a party or witness to a civil action or a witness to a criminal action to appear at a place other than within a correctional facility only if the court determines, after providing a reasonable opportunity for the commissioner to comment, that the prisoner's personal appearance is essential to the just disposition of the action. In making its determination, the court shall consider available alternatives to the prisoner's personal appearance including deposition and telephone testimony.

(g) Except as provided in (h) of this section, the expenses associated with the transportation of a prisoner ordered under (f) of this section, including the costs of travel for the prisoner and escorting officers, and the salary and per diem costs of the escorting officers, shall be borne by the party who has requested the prisoner's appearance, and shall be paid to the commissioner of public safety before the prisoner is transported.

(h) A prisoner who is a party to a civil action is not required to bear the full costs of a prisoner's own transportation under (g) of this section if the court determines that the prisoner is indigent. In these cases, the court may require the prisoner to bear a portion of the costs, and the commissioner of public safety shall bear the remaining costs of transporting the prisoner. If an indigent prisoner recovers a money judgment, the court may require the prisoner to bear all or part of the expenses required under (g) of this section.