WYOMING — The Senate Revenue Committee voted on March 4 to advance Senate File 150, legislation that would repeal the death penalty in Wyoming.
The bill is being sponsored by Senator Brian Boner and cosponsored by Senators Fred Baldwin, R.J Kost, Bill Landen, Stephen Pappas, Chris Rothfuss, Wendy Schuler, and Representatives, Eric Barlow, Donald Burkhart Jr., Cathy Connolly, Bob Nicholas, Jared Olsen, Cyrus Western, and Sue Wilson.
A sentence for life imprisonment without parole would still be considered for convictions including murder in the first-degree and other felonies. Crimes that may be punishable by imprisonment for more than one year are felonies, all other crimes are considered misdemeanors.
According to the bill’s fiscal notes, “by eliminating the death penalty, the State Public Defender would not be required to staff and fund capital cases, nor would it have to pay for continued work on resentencing in the Eaton case.” The fiscal note also states that the State Public Defender was appropriated $500,000 for the biennium for capital cases, regardless of the number of inmates on death row. It was also appropriated $1,236,750 for the Eaton capital resentencing in Natrona County.
The fiscal impact on the judicial system and the Department of Corrections (DOC) is indeterminable due to an unknown number of cases. The DOC states that there are no current inmates in its custody sentenced to death. Each year of incarceration costs approximately $42,340 per inmate.
Following the vote, the ACLU of Wyoming released a statement. “Support for repealing the death penalty among Wyoming residents is growing every day. With the Revenue Committee advancing Senate File 150, we’re confident that support will continue to grow among legislators, too,” said Sabrina King, ACLU of Wyoming campaign consultant. “As more information becomes available about the arbitrary and discriminatory manner in which these laws are applied — and as societal standards regarding the death penalty continue to evolve — it becomes increasingly difficult for capital punishment laws to avoid violating the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. It’s time to end the death penalty in Wyoming.”
Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty also released a statement after Thursday evening’s vote, “I am thrilled that Senate File 150 has made it out of committee and is heading to the Senate floor,” said Kylie Taylor, Wyoming state coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. “This shows there is a real effort to prioritize fiscal responsibility, the sanctity of human life, and small government in Wyoming. We are more than ready for Wyoming to become the 24th state to repeal the death penalty!”
According to the ACLU of Wyoming, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, organizations like the Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne, the League of Women Voters of Wyoming, the Wyoming Interfaith Network, Cheyenne NAACP, Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian Church of Cheyenne also support the repeal of the death penalty.
In 2020, an attempt to repeal the death penalty in Wyoming failed introduction in the House by a 37-23 vote. Since 1976, Wyoming has executed one person—Mark Hopkinson—who was put to death in 1992.
