NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Working for alternatives that are fair, victim-centered and cost effective

Cost

North Carolina’s death penalty costs millions of dollars each year, even while executions are stalled. A majority of North Carolinians say it is not a worthwhile use of tax money.


North Carolina’s death penalty costs millions of dollars each year, even while executions are stalled. A majority of North Carolinians say it is not a worthwhile use of tax money.


Map of North CarolinaIn 2009, Duke University completed the first rigorous study on the costs of the death penalty in North Carolina. It found that death penalty prosecutions cost the state at least $11 million a year, despite the fact that no one has been executed since 2006.

The study’s cost estimate was conservative. It included:

  • Extra defense costs for capital cases, which require two attorneys paid at higher rates as well as a team of experts and investigators. On average, defending a capital case costs four times as much as a first-degree murder trial in which the defendant faces a maximum of life imprisonment.
  • Extra payments to jurors in capital trials, which typically take longer than non-capital one.
  • The expense of appeals and resentencing hearings, which are far more numerous in capital trials.
  • The costs to prisons, which must house death-sentenced prisoners in special units with extra security, sometimes for decades.

It did not include the prosecution costs, despite the fact that death penalty cases can eat up hundreds of hours in state-funded district attorney’s offices and law enforcement agencies. It also did not include additional costs to pay court reporters and other court personnel, or the expense of additional appeals in state and federal court.

An earlier Duke University study found that it costs the state $2.16 million more per case to prosecute a homicide capitally and see it through to execution.

North Carolina continues to invest in the death penalty, despite the public’s growing discomfort with it. Death sentences have become rare occurrences, and polls show declining support for the punishment.

A 2013 poll showed that 68 percent of North Carolinians would support replacing the death penalty with life in prison without parole if offenders were required to work and pay restitution to their victims’ families. A clear majority also favored redirecting taxpayer funds spent on the death penalty to crime fighting, solving cold cases, and assisting crime victims.

For as long as the death penalty exists, the high costs will continue. Given that nine innocent people have been exonerated after being sentenced to death in North Carolina, it’s clear that a strong defense and extensive appeals are necessary to avoid executing an innocent person.

More resources: