“PRISONS, COST OF EXECUTIONS”

By Dr. Hoyt W. Allen, Jr.

On February 19, 2002 John W. Byre, Jr. was executed for killing a Cincinnati area convenience store clerk on April 17, 1983. The Columbus, OH Dispatch stated on June 1, 2002 that it had cost the state of Ohio at least $534,051 to defend Byrd, $64,084 to prosecute him, and $6,660 to execute him. Then it cost an additional $182,000 to imprison Byrd since 1991 (the earliest year that such estimates were available). Thus, the total cost of Byrd’s execution was $786,735.

More than two-thirds of the execution cost was holiday pay for 20 prison employees. Extra prison employees were called in to work on President’s Day, the day Byrd was transferred from Mansfield, OH to Lucasville, OH.

The costliest capital-punishment case in recent history involved Cleveland killer Wilford Berry, nicknamed “the Volunteer” because he waived his legal appeals. The Attorney General’s Office spent about $900,000 to argue for Berry’s execution, which took place on February 19, 1999. This was Ohio’s first in 36 years. Three more executions have followed, including Byrd’s. At this writing, complete figures have not been compiled for the most recent execution, that of Alton Coleman on April 26, 2002. It currently costs an average of $22,045 annually to imprison a death row inmate in Ohio.

Some of us have wondered why we tax payers are required to “fit the bill” to remove from our midst those who have no respect for human life. Others of us have said, if we returned to the “good old days” such as hanging - that would be a great deal cheaper. See the KYOWVA Web Page; www.kyowva.com and Articles By Bro. Hoyt, and then “One Conservative’s View Of A Maximum Security Prison”.

Plainly, don’t get short changed. Be ready to meet our Maker. The Bible teaches that to avoid hell and gain heaven - one must:

1) Believe In Jesus As Savior (Acts 16:31) 2) Repent Of Sins (Acts 17:30) 3) Confess Christ Audibly (Acts 8:37) 4) Be Baptized In Water (Acts 2:38) 5) Live A Christian Life (Acts 14:22)

KYOWVA Evangelistic Association * 1541 S. 7th Street * Ironton, OH 45638
Web Page: www.kyowva.com * Email: kyowva@sbcglobal.net
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