Fiscal Note Package 39877
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Multiple Agency Fiscal Note Summary Bill Number: 1739 HB Title: Death penalty, eliminating Estimated Cash Receipts Agency Name 2015-17 2017-19 2019-21 GF- State Total GF- State Total GF- State Total Office of Attorney General Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. Total $ 0 0 0 0 0 0 Estimated Expenditures Agency Name 2015-17 2017-19 2019-21 FTEs GF-State Total FTEs GF-State Total FTEs GF-State Total Administrative Office of Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. the Courts Office of Public Defense Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. Office of Attorney Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. General Caseload Forecast .0 0 0 .0 0 0 .0 0 0 Council Department of Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. Corrections Total 0.0 $0 $0 0.0 $0 $0 0.0 $0 $0 Local Gov. Courts * Non-zero but indeterminate cost and/or savings. Please see discussion. Loc School dist-SPI Local Gov. Other ** (3,900,000) (3,900,000) (3,900,000) Local Gov. Total (3,900,000) (3,900,000) (3,900,000) Estimated Capital Budget Impact NONE Prepared by: Trisha Newport, OFM Phone: Date Published: (360) 902-0417 Final 2/19/2015 * See Office of the Administrator for the Courts judicial fiscal note ** See local government fiscal note FNPID: 39877 FNS029 Multi Agency rollup Judicial Impact Fiscal Note Bill Number: 1739 HB Title: Death penalty, eliminating Agency: 055-Admin Office of the Courts Part I: Estimates No Fiscal Impact Estimated Cash Receipts to: Account FY 2016 FY 2017 2015-17 2017-19 2019-21 Counties Cities Total $ Estimated Expenditures from: Non-zero but indeterminate cost. Please see discussion. The revenue and expenditure estimates on this page represent the most likely fiscal impact. Responsibility for expenditures may be subject to the provisions of RCW 43.135.060. Check applicable boxes and follow corresponding instructions: If fiscal impact is greater than $50,000 per fiscal year in the current biennium or in subsequent biennia, complete entire fiscal note X form Parts I-V. If fiscal impact is less than $50,000 per fiscal year in the current biennium or in subsequent biennia, complete this page only (Part I). Capital budget impact, complete Part IV. Legislative Contact Edie Adams Phone: 360-786-7180 Date: 02/13/2015 Agency Preparation: Kitty Hjelm Phone: 360-704-5528 Date: 02/17/2015 Agency Approval: Ramsey Radwan Phone: 360-357-2406 Date: 02/17/2015 OFM Review: Cheri Keller Phone: 360-902-0563 Date: 02/17/2015 Request # 1739 HB-1 Form FN (Rev 1/00) 1 Bill # 1739 HB FNS061 Judicial Impact Fiscal Note Part II: Narrative Explanation II. A - Brief Description Of What The Measure Does That Has Fiscal Impact on the Courts This bill would eliminate the death penalty in favor of life incarceration. Section 1 would amend RCW 10.95.030 to: - require that a life sentence without possibility of parole must include a restitution order; - require that an offender sentenced to life without possibility of parole be required to work throughout the duration of his /her sentence to satisfy the restitution order; - require the death peanlty be removed as a possible sentence for aggravated first degree murder . Section 2 would repeal a number of sections of RCW 10.95 relating to court proceedings concerning a death sentence. II. B - Cash Receipts Impact None II. C - Expenditures This bill would require the death penalty be removed as a possible sentence for aggravated first degree murder . Eliminating the death penalty would result in cost savings for the superior courts for no longer trying death penalty cases and the supreme court for no longer hearing death penalty case reviews and appeals. According to a January 2015 Seattle University report on the "Analysis of the Economic Costs of Seeking the Death Penalty in Washington State", the average court, police/sheriff and miscellaneous costs associated with an aggravated first-degree murder case where the death penalty was sought was $528,779 compared to $65,075 when the death penalty was not sought. However, because these death penalty cases are before the supreme and superior courts over a period of years, each features different details and aggravating factors, and the cases are before different justices and judges there is not sufficient data to estimate the cost savings. The following are examples of the types of costs that would be saved: - Compared to other felony cases in superior court, more time is spent in death penalty cases on complex pre-trial motions, legal challenges and jury selection. A death penalty case lasts between 20 to 30 days longer than a typical felony case . - There would be savings in jury selection. Jury selection for death penalty trials is more complex with many more jurors summoned than in a typical jury trial. The process of selecting a jury is much more involved, with jurors having to provide additional written material and the court and attorneys reviewing these juror questionnaires. Jury selection can take as long as 30 days for a death sentence trial compared to other cases where jury selection takes a day or two. Should a jury find a defendant guilty of aggravated murder in the first degree then the same jury would convene for a “penalty phase.” In the penalty phase the jury decides whether the sentence should be death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This phase can last from a few days to longer than a week. - The supreme court would achieve savings by not hearing appeals of death penalty sentences . Statute provides for automatic review and appeal to the supreme court of all death penalty sentences. It requires the supreme court to review specific issues concerning whether sufficient evidence existed to justify the jury’s determination of insufficient mitigating circumstances; whether the sentence was a product of passion or prejudice; whether the sentence is excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases considering both the crime and the defendant; and whether the defendant had an intellectual disability . - In the supreme court, additional procedures are required by supreme court rule. Two attorneys must be appointed to represent the defendant with one of these attorneys from the death penalty qualified list; every hearing must be transcribed and a proportionality analysis must be made; and the time for argument in death penalty cases is three times longer than in other cases . - If there is a supreme court decision that is adverse to the defendant, then within one year from that decision a Personal Restraint Petition (PRP) may be filed by the defendant in the supreme court that can raise issues not previously considered at the appellate or trial proceedings. These PRP proceedings also require that two attorneys be appointed, with at least one being an attorney qualified from the death penalty qualified list, the briefing to the court is increased, experts and investigators may be appointed and the hearing must be Request # 1739 HB-1 Form FN (Rev 1/00) 2 Bill # 1739 HB FNS061 Judicial Impact Fiscal Note transcribed. - The amount of additional time that a justice and staff assigned a death penalty case spends is considerably more than with other case assignments. It is estimated that currently the supreme court clerk spends 10 to 15% of his time on capital cases while another member of the clerk’s office staff spends 20% of their time. If this bill passed, judges and staff would redirect their time not spent on death penalty cases to other cases before the courts and to reducing caseload backlogs. Part III: Expenditure Detail Part IV: Capital Budget Impact Request # 1739 HB-1 Form FN (Rev 1/00) 3 Bill # 1739 HB FNS061 Judicial Impact Fiscal Note Individual State Agency Fiscal Note Bill Number: 1739 HB Title: Death penalty, eliminating Agency: 056-Office of Public Defense Part I: Estimates No Fiscal Impact Estimated Cash Receipts to: NONE Estimated Expenditures from: Non-zero but indeterminate cost. Please see discussion. Estimated Capital Budget Impact: NONE The cash receipts and expenditure estimates on this page represent the most likely fiscal impact. Factors impacting the precision of these estimates, and alternate ranges (if appropriate), are explained in Part II. Check applicable boxes and follow corresponding instructions: If fiscal impact is greater than $50,000 per fiscal year in the current biennium or in subsequent biennia, complete entire fiscal note X form Parts I-V. If fiscal impact is less than $50,000 per fiscal year in the current biennium or in subsequent biennia, complete this page only (Part I). Capital budget impact, complete Part IV. Requires new rule making, complete Part V. Legislative Contact: Edie Adams Phone: 360-786-7180 Date: 02/13/2015 Agency Preparation: Sophia Byrd McSherry Phone: 360-586-3164 Date: 02/17/2015 Agency Approval: Joanne Moore Phone: 360 956-2107 Date: 02/17/2015 OFM Review: Cheri Keller Phone: 360-902-0563 Date: 02/17/2015 FNS063 Individual State Agency Fiscal Note Request # 1739-1 Form FN (Rev 1/00) 1 Bill # 1739 HB Part II: Narrative Explanation II. A - Brief Description Of What The Measure Does That Has Fiscal Impact Briefly describe by section number, the significant provisions of the bill, and any related workload or policy assumptions, that have revenue or expenditure impact on the responding agency. HB 1739 would remove capital punishment from Washington statutes. Section 1 would amend RCW 10.95.030 to remove references to a special death penalty proceeding and would establish life imprisonment without parole as the penalty for aggravated first-degree murder.