Earlier this month, the Wyoming House of Representatives voted 36-21 in favor of House Bill 145, which would have repealed the death penalty in Wyoming.
However, the Wyoming Senate voted against the measure on Thursday by an 18-12 vote.
Those in favor of the repeal argued that it would have been more cost effective during trials where the death penalty was in question. Those against the repeal argued the death penalty serves as a deterrent for serious crimes.
According to an Associated Press release, Riverton Republican Eli Bebout voiced concern about going too easy on those who commit the worst crimes. Bebout told the AP, “As things progress, and pretty soon people get more and more lenient in those cases, then these people may walk. I’m just not in favor of this.”
Wyoming currently does not have any convicts on death row and has not since a federal judge removed a death sentence for Dale Wayne Eaton, who had spent 10 years on death row. The last execution in Wyoming was in 1992.