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House directs auditor general to study costs of aggravated murder prosecutions
Summary
House Bill 70 asks the Legislative Auditor General for a study into the fiscal costs of aggravated murder and capital punishment; sponsors cited a commonly used $1.6 million per-case estimate and the House passed the measure 68-0.
The Utah House approved House Bill 70, a resolution asking the Legislative Auditor General to conduct a roughly nine-month study into the fiscal costs associated with aggravated murder cases and the state's capital punishment process.
Sponsor Representative Handy framed the bill as a way to refine a widely cited figure. "When that original study was done ... that number was 1,600,000," Handy said on the floor, and added that further analysis should provide an apples-to-apples comparison of costs including appeals and long-term incarceration assumptions.
Members asked whether the study would examine prison and end-of-life care costs associated with life sentences and capital cases; sponsors responded that the auditor general's scope would be guided by the bill's language and that the bill provides a framework to ask the right questions.
After discussion and a sponsor summation, the House closed debate and passed House Bill 70 by a recorded vote of 68-0. The measure will be transmitted to the Senate.
The bill does not itself change policy on capital punishment; it directs a review intended to provide lawmakers and the public a clearer fiscal baseline for future legislative decisions.
