State to release findings from study on death penalty costs

By Ana Ley

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014 | 2 a.m.

State auditors this afternoon are expected to release findings from a study on the cost of administering the death penalty in Nevada.

The capital punishment debate here tends to draw more fiscal than moral objections from critics, who point to an overburdened criminal justice system whose state corrections department spends nearly $300 million per year. By comparison, Utah — whose population is about 4 percent higher than Nevada's, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates — spends about $260 million per year on corrections.

The audit, which is due by Jan. 31, is expected to calculate not just incarceration costs, but also expenses for legal counsel — both defense and prosecution — for all court proceedings and for associated costs such as investigators, mitigation specialists and experts.

A 2012 UNLV study backed by the Clark County Public Defender's Office found that public defense attorneys spent double the time on capital murder cases as opposed to noncapital murder cases. Clark County's caseload is the largest in the state.

"We expect that the results will be consistent with all of the studies that have been done before about the death penalty, which show it's more expensive to pursue the death penalty than life without the possibility of parole," said Nancy Hart, president of the Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "Without the death penalty, we'd free up lots of resources for other public safety needs."

The state audit results will be announced at an afternoon legislative meeting in Carson City. The meeting, which begins at 1 p.m., will be video conferenced to Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas.

To listen live, visit www.leg.state.nv.us and click on the calendar link.