Legislators seek to repeal death penalty

As Wyoming continues to search every corner of the budget for savings to stabilize the economy, a group of legislators has hit upon an idea that could save a quarter million dollars every year. Co-sponsored by Representative Tyler Lindholm, House Bill 145 would repeal the death penalty in Wyoming and remove the hundreds of thousands spent on staffing and funding capital cases.

“Currently we have not utilized the death penalty since 1992 and yet every year we spend roughly $750,000 per year for the program,” says Lindholm.

“Couple that with the increased cost of 30 percent per inmate on death row to segregate them from general population, it is just wasteful spending.”

Lindholm’s motivation for signing on to the bill is purely financial.

“I am for the repeal of the death penalty strictly based on a fiscal stand point. I may be the only fiscal perspective legislator on the bill that has also supported the use of firing squads for the death penalty,” he says. “That should prove how much I am against overspending in this area.”

The bill was introduced by Representative Jared Olsen (Laramie) and Senator Brian Boner (Converse). In a press release, Olsen states that, while he believes Wyoming needs to continue its tough stance on crime and keep victims at the forefront of our minds, the death penalty is both ineffective and expensive.

“Having the death penalty on the table is a costly endeavor. The Wyoming Public Defender spends approximately $750,000 every year in taxpayer money to staff and fund capital cases,” Olsen says.

According to Olsen, there is not a single inmate on death row in Wyoming at the present time. He believes the possibility of a life sentence without parole is enough to balance the need to protect public safety with the need to reduce the strain on taxpayer resources.

Should the bill be successful, it would repeal the death penalty and make life without parole the most severe sentence possible. The Legislative Service Office included a fiscal note with the bill estimating that it would save around $750,000 in expenditures in 2020 alone.

Lindholm hopes that this will be the case, though he reiterates that the death penalty itself is not something he stands against. However, he says, “Until such time as we can develop a program that works efficiently and on time, I cannot support the continuation of the program.”