Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, will be tried for several charges, including aggravated murder. That carries the death penalty in Utah, and the state has made it known that it will pursue the ultimate consequence.
But how much would a death penalty case cost the Utah taxpayer? It’s not the easiest question to answer, but Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, made one thing clear.
“When a state decides that it's going to pursue a death sentence and then carry out an execution, the price tag goes up tremendously,” she said.
According to the center’s data, capital punishment can cost taxpayers up to five times more than life without parole. A 2012 report from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice found death penalty cases cost over $1.6 million more. Due to inflation, this number could likely be higher in 2026.
One factor is the appeals process and the extra time these cases see in court post-sentencing.
“These cases go on for many years, and that's because these cases with the highest possible consequences need careful review, and that takes time,” Maher said.
Legal fees, prison transport and investigative costs all add up, too.
In other places, Maher explained the higher cost can be attributed to how inmates are housed. Several states that have the death penalty also have a separate section of the prison specifically for these individuals.
Right now, Utah has three incarcerated men sentenced to death: Troy Kell, Michael Archuleta and Von Taylor. The Utah Department of Corrections does not have a physical death row, in that it houses these inmates with everyone else in a tiered system based on behavior. The department says costs remain consistent at $126.79 per inmate per day.
Josh Nemeth is a former prosecutor and the criminal justice policy analyst for the Libertas Institute, a Utah libertarian think tank.
“I think the most expensive individual cost is the lethal injection itself, which I believe the chemical alone has a $200,000 price tag,” he said.
The last man Utah executed was Taberon Honie in 2024, who was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in 1998. The whole process cost the state $288,685.29. Most of that went toward the drugs. The rest covered personnel, overtime, supplies and equipment.
Nemeth also pointed out that these cases tend to have larger legal teams with specialist capabilities. Utah has what’s known as Rule 8, which essentially means any attorney defending someone facing the death penalty must have extensive training and experience in felony cases.
“With that, obviously, comes a higher price tag to have that specialized counsel,” he said.
For Nemeth, the death penalty is becoming an irrelevant means of punishment. Originally, like all punishments, he said it was used as a criminal deterrent.
“We're talking about a hanging in the town square that everybody sees,” he said. “You're going to steal horses. You're going to rob a bank. This is the consequence, and everybody, you know, from childhood to adulthood, sees that.”
To him, this isn't really how it works nowadays because of how the process is dragged out, pointing specifically to Ralph Menzies, another high-profile case.
Menzies was on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, but died of medical complications in late 2025 after being in prison for more than three decades. His attorneys spent the last few years of his life arguing for his sentence to be commuted because they said he had dementia.
“I think the Menzies case is a prime example of that, where, you know, we as a society, or at least at this point in time, are relying on this execution to be our sense of justice, and where the individual ends up just dragging out the rest of their life on the taxpayer dime to die in prison., I don't know that justice was ever actually accomplished.”
There have been several attempts in Utah to abolish the death penalty. The most recent was during the 2022 legislative session. In a Republican-led effort by Rep. V. Lowry Snow and Sen. Dan McKay, a bill that would have prohibited the death penalty failed to advance out of committee by one vote.
Whether or not Tyler Robinson’s case will spark more debate in the Legislature over whether the death penalty will continue to be a criminal consequence in Utah remains to be seen. Kirk’s family hasn’t said anything about where they stand on the death penalty, but his widow Erica publicly forgave Robinson.
On Sept. 1, 2026, 4th District Judge Tony Graf ruled that Robinson would face trial for seven charges. It will likely be years before his fate is determined.
