While executions are on hold, Ohio death penalty costs still high

A capital punishment case costs $1 to $3 million more than if the state sought a life sentence.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The 2025 Capital Crimes report from the Ohio Attorney General is out, and even though a state execution hasn’t been carried out in Ohio in nearly a decade, it has still cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The state hasn’t executed anyone since 2018, meaning the more than 100 people on death row are essentially serving life sentences. In an interview with NBC4 Investigates, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called the state’s capital punishment system “paralyzed.”

The latest report from Yost’s office said that if the trend continues, it could lead to the number of those on death row who die from natural causes or suicide to surpass those who have been executed.

“It’s not producing anything, which is a miscarriage of justice,” Yost said. “I think it’s time for us to face the dilemma head-on, decide what is just and then pursue it.”

NBC4 Investigates found that it costs millions of dollars more to conduct a death penalty trial compared to life in prison because of the safeguards in place.

The Ohio Legislative Service Commission estimates that a capital punishment case costs $1 to $3 million more than if the state sought a life sentence. When applying those estimates to the current 113 inmates on Ohio’s death row who are facing a combined 115 death sentences, that could mean up to $345 million.

“Why go through all these protections if we’re not going to carry out the sentence?” Yost said. “The reason that it’s wasted is because we’re doing all this so that the worst of the worst do have their date with justice, and then that date never comes.”

Lethal injection is the only possible method of execution in Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine, who hasn’t authorized an execution since taking office, has cited ongoing problems, including the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to provide the needed drugs.

“If this is the law on the books, these are the verdicts that have been properly arrived at, then the state has a duty to fulfill its obligation to follow the law,” Yost said.

Yost said it’s up to lawmakers to choose an alternative path. He says legislators could look at different methods of execution, like nitrogen hypoxia, which has been adopted by other states that have faced difficulties in sourcing lethal injection drugs.

Another option, Yost said, is to provide confidentiality to the companies that provide the drugs. The last option Yost provided, which he says he disagrees with, is to repeal the death penalty.

There have been multiple efforts from legislators to repeal the death penalty, and others to introduce nitrogen hypoxia. None of the bills have made it out of committees.

“It’s time to stop tiptoeing around this issue, hoping it will just go away,” Yost said. “It’s not going to go away, and it needs a decision.”

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 to secure states’ access to lethal-injection drugs. Yost’s office said they’re still waiting for those resources from the federal government.

Source: nbc4i.com, Lexi Lepof, April 1, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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