---
title: 'Kansas Study Concludes Death Penalty is Costly Policy'
description: 'In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases.'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/kansas-study-concludes-death-penalty-is-costly-policy'
section: news
date: '2004-03-06T00:10:51-05:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:23:30-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

In its review of death penalty expenses, the State of Kansas concluded that **capital cases are 70% more expensive than comparable non-death penalty cases**. The study counted death penalty case costs through to execution and found that the median death penalty case costs $1.26 million. Non-death penalty cases were counted through to the end of incarceration and were found to have a median cost of $740,000. For death penalty cases, the pre-trial and trial level expenses were the most expensive part, 49% of the total cost. The costs of appeals were 29% of the total expense, and the incarceration and execution costs accounted for the remaining 22%. In comparison to non-death penalty cases, the following findings were revealed:

- The investigation costs for death-sentence cases were about 3 times greater than for non-death cases.
- The trial costs for death cases were about 16 times greater than for non-death cases ($508,000 for death case; $32,000 for non-death case).
- The appeal costs for death cases were 21 times greater.
- The costs of carrying out an execution (including death row incarceration) were about **half** the costs of carrying out a non-death sentence in a comparable case.
- Trials involving a death sentence averaged 34 days, including jury selection; non-death trials averaged about 9 days.

 (Performance Audit Report: Costs Incurred for Death Penalty Cases: A K-GOAL Audit of the Department of Corrections, December 2003) Read [DPIC’s Summary of the Kansas Cost Report](/article.php?scid=7&did=918). See [Costs.](/costs-death-penalty?did=108&scid=7)