Nebraska Spends Millions to House Death Row Inmates

The state has spent nearly $10.6 million to hold its 12 death row inmates at the Tecumseh prison.

Apr. 11, 2026 at 3:54am

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An extreme close-up photograph of a set of handcuffs against a pitch-black background, lit by a harsh, direct camera flash, creating a stark, gritty, investigative aesthetic that conceptually represents the complexities of the death penalty.The high cost of housing death row inmates in Nebraska raises questions about the financial and legal viability of capital punishment.Madison Today

Nebraska has 12 inmates on death row, with the longest-serving inmate there since 1996. The state spends an estimated $143 per day to house each death row inmate, which is more than the general prison population due to the increased staffing required. The total cost to the state for housing all death row inmates over the years has reached nearly $10.6 million.

Why it matters

The high cost of maintaining death row inmates has sparked ongoing debates in Nebraska about the death penalty, its effectiveness, and whether the state should continue to pursue capital punishment given the financial and legal complexities involved.

The details

According to the interim inspector general of corrections, the $143 per day cost for a death row inmate is higher than the general prison population due to the increased staffing and resources required. This does not include the basic facility costs. Some inmates have been on death row for decades, racking up significant costs for the state. The process of carrying out an execution, including appeals, can also be very expensive and drawn out, with the last execution in Nebraska occurring in 2018.

  • The last execution in Nebraska was in 2018.
  • The longest-serving inmate on death row has been there since 1996.

The players

Jason Jones

A death row inmate who was recently sentenced to die for killing four people in 2022.

Zach Pulisic

The interim inspector general of corrections in Nebraska, who provided details on the costs of housing death row inmates.

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What they’re saying

“Anything that you would need to have a house plus plus some, it's it's the cost of of a person being where they're at. The person in there.”

— Zach Pulisic, Interim Inspector General of Corrections

What’s next

The Nebraska Supreme Court will need to set an execution date for Jason Jones, but there has only been one execution in the state in the last 29 years due to the legal complexities and difficulty acquiring the necessary drugs for lethal injection.

The takeaway

The high cost of maintaining death row inmates in Nebraska has reignited debates about the death penalty, with questions around its financial and legal viability compared to alternative forms of punishment.