A state lawmaker wants a more in-depth study of how much it costs for capital punishment in Utah, and to determine whether it’s cheaper to instead give a prisoner a life sentence.
House Bill 70 would request legislative auditors to do a study of death penalty costs, including the amount of money spent by law enforcement, courts and others when a defendant’s execution is sought.
Legislative analysts in 2012 estimated that a death sentence and decades of appeals costs $1.6 million more than a life-without-parole sentence. But bill sponsor Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, said that study was “very brief” and did not include many of the costs incurred by state and county personnel.