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I’m not absolutely positive but I believe there have been 2 appropriated amounts so far of $100k each and both were given in Dec, 1 yr apart. To me that doesn’t sound like a helluva lot but perhaps some will be settled up & paid AFTER the trials. JMOO.
House passes bill to help pay for Pike County death-penalty cases - News - The Columbus Dispatch
Posted Apr 3, 2019 at 6:02 PM
Updated Apr 3, 2019 at 8:38 PM
A bill aimed at helping Pike County deal with the staggering costs of prosecuting four death-penalty cases resulting from the April 2016 murder of eight people passed the Ohio House on Wednesday with overwhelming support.
House Bill 85, which passed 93-2
The bill is designed to help any county that finds itself with capital cases expected to cost more than 5 percent of its general fund.
The county spent $600,000 on the investigation, the prosecution of the death-penalty cases including a legal defense for the accused, is likely to run more than $4 million.
The bill, which would immediately make $4 million available for Pike County, would allow a county to request financial help through the attorney general or state public defender. The request would ultimately need the approval of the state’s Controlling Board, a legislative spending-oversight panel.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where Sen. Bob Peterson, R-Sabina, the No. 2 Senate leader who represents Pike County, supports the measure.
Having four death-penalty cases in a county at one time is almost unheard of in Ohio. In the past two years, only five people convicted of murders have been sentenced to death in the state.