In 2014, the estimated cost of the death penalty in Texas was 3.8 million, meanwhile life in prison was only 1.3 million (TCADP, 2024)

Often it is forgotten that anyone who pays taxes in the state of Texas is directly impacted by the financial burdens of maintaining capital punishment policies. Taxpayers in each county are those who pay for this punishment, no matter their opinion.

The reasoning for the cost of capital punishment being so high is due to longer trials, the jury selection process being longer, and the extensive measures and time taken to build a legal team with adequate expertise. The average time someone spends on death row is more than a decade.

Some prisoners even spend up to 20 years on death row.

Williamson County State Rep. John Bucy III is pushing for the Texas state death penalty to be abolished. Bucy states “ Financially, if you just want to look at it economically, we spend more money to execute than to keep someone in prison, so it’s really a lose situation with a high-risk stake if we get it wrong.”

In the state of Texas, a wronfully convicted person is entitled up to $80,000 per year of wrongful incarceration.

In 2014, the estimated cost of the death penalty in Texas was 3.8 million, meanwhile life in prison was only 1.3 million (TCADP, 2024)

Often it is forgotten that anyone who pays taxes in the state of Texas is directly impacted by the financial burdens of maintaining capital punishment policies. Taxpayers in each county are those who pay for this punishment, no matter their opinion.

The reasoning for the cost of capital punishment being so high is due to longer trials, the jury selection process being longer, and the extensive measures and time taken to build a legal team with adequate expertise. The average time someone spends on death row is more than a decade.

Some prisoners even spend up to 20 years on death row.

Williamson County State Rep. John Bucy III is pushing for the Texas state death penalty to be abolished. Bucy states “ Financially, if you just want to look at it economically, we spend more money to execute than to keep someone in prison, so it’s really a lose situation with a high-risk stake if we get it wrong.”

In the state of Texas, a wronfully convicted person is entitled up to $80,000 per year of wrongful incarceration.