IL SR0297

Directs the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to conduct a comprehensive study of death penalty costs in Illinois, including costs of seeking the death penalty, capital trials, appeals, incarceration, and execution

Requires a parallel study comparing death penalty costs to the costs of sentencing first-degree murder convicts to life imprisonment, with detailed cost comparison on the same level of detail

Mandates a preliminary report during the 2009 veto session and a final report with recommendations no later than January 29, 2010

Authorizes the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to expend any appropriation or available funds necessary to conduct the study

Cites evidence that 19 inmates have been exonerated from Illinois death row since 2000, that no safeguard can guarantee innocent persons will not be sentenced to death, and that death penalty cases cost millions more than comparable non-death cases