A recent Adams County death penalty case is an example of how expensive it can be for counties to finance high profile murder cases.

Adams County has already spent more than $50,000 prosecuting the 1993 case of Joseph Patrick &uot;Peanut&uot; Brown.

But a new law signed by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove this week will take the costs of such cases away from Mississippi counties.

As of July 1, newly-formed state departments will take over the handling and financing of death-penalty cases.

District Six&160;District Attorney Ronnie Harper, whose district includes Adams County, said he believes this bill will be a relief to counties.

&uot;It’s going to be a lot of help to the counties,&uot; Harper said. &uot;I honestly believe that.&uot;

Brown’s murder case was the last death penalty case to go to trial in Adams&160;County.

In order to prosecute Brown, the county has already paid $50,662.37 to cover motel, meals, transportation, a court reporter, an appeal, investigator and attorney costs,&160;said Adams County Chancery Clerk Tommy O’Beirne.

The case is still in the appeals stage.

Because district attorneys never know when counties are going to have to handle a death penalty case, they are unable to budget for them, Harper said. &uot;It’s just very unpredictable from one county to the next how much it’s going to cost,&uot; he said.

But with this new law in place, counties can breath a sigh of relief, he said.

&uot;That’s all of their backs now, Harper said.

For prosecutors to seek the death penalty in a case, the crime has to meet certain conviction criteria: the murder of an officer in the line of duty, a murder for hire or a murder committed at the same time as one of several other specified felonies.

Criteria also include the murder of a public/elected official, murder on an educational property, murder by bomb or explosion or a murder committed by someone already serving a life sentence for murder.

The state probably has about 15 to 20 of these cases a year, Harper said.

This month’s legislation sets up the Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, which will provide representation to indigents- people who can not afford attorneys -during post-conviction proceedings.

The bill also establishes the Mississippi Office of Capital Defense Counsel to provide representation for indigent parties in the early stages of a death penalty case. It will also provide funding for judges to appoint local counsel if local counsel is available. These departments will also cover other trial related costs.