The Economics of the Death Penalty
- Average costs of a death penalty case in the United States is 2 million dollars.
- Average costs of a non-death penalty case in the United States is $750,000.00.
- Average costs of a death penalty case in our neighbor state Kansas is $1,260,000.00.
- Average cost of a non-death penalty case in Kansas is $520,000.00.
- 80% of the costs of a death penalty case is at the trial level. 20% of the costs are at the appellate level.
- Costs at the trial level include the costs of investigation (police and defendant's investigation); prosecutor's fees, defense attorney's fees, court costs, incarceration costs, jury costs, and general court fees.
Since 1976, if you multiply the number of executions in Missouri times the additional costs in Kansas for a death penalty case, Missouri has spent an extra 92.5 million dollars (or $3,189,655.10 a year) to try, convict and sentence to death the 125 successful death penalty cases. This figure does not include those cases where defendants were charge as a capital case and either found not guilty or the jury refused to impose the death penalty.
For more information on the Death Penalty and Cost (deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=108&scid=7)