The 11th Annual Arkansas Poll shows a majority of Arkansans support the death penalty.

Sixty-nine percent of Arkansans think the death penalty is the most fiscally responsible way to handle criminals.

Arkansans see executing criminals as a cost-saving strategy.

Janine Parry, Arkansas Poll Director, finds the results interesting, because it is actually the opposite.

"In general, it costs less to keep an inmate in prison for life than it is to execute them because of the appeals process," Parry said.

The results might lead policy makers in a jam, considering public opinion is in favor of the death penalty, but people want the most cost effective measures.

"So, if cost effectiveness is part of our public policy concern, in fact, execution may not be the way we want to go," Parry said.
 
Not everyone supports the idea of capital punishment, but those who are opposed to the death penalty seem to be more concerned with the nature of the punishment and the possibility of innocence, rather than financial responsbility.