Kouri Richins, the Kamas mother of three who was found guilty of killing her husband, Eric Richins, will be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole next week, and the Summit County government is already preparing to cover the cost of a potential appeal.
Deputy County Manager Janna Young said the county has spent more than $1 million on the case so far. The county is financially responsible for both the prosecution and the defense, as Richins was assigned a public defender in 2024.
Young said the county’s financial commitments to the case will not change if Richins files an appeal, as expected. She said the appeals process would likely be “quite expensive” and last for multiple years, which is why county staff recommended joining the Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund.
“The issue is … how can we be the best stewards of taxpayer dollars?” Young said in a presentation to the County Council on Wednesday. “We weren’t aware when the Kouri Richins case came to the county that there was an aggravated murder fund that the state provides to help us with these costs.”
The Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund is a state-managed program that provides financial assistance to counties with aggravated murder cases, which tend to be more expensive, involve more experts and take more time than a typical murder charge. Aggravated murder charges also open the door for the death penalty.
The fund is essentially a savings account. Counties pay an initial sum to join the program, as well as an annual membership fee. The Utah Indigent Defense Commission oversees participants and the distribution of funds, using the pool of money to cover court costs when a county has an aggravated murder charge in its jurisdiction.
The county’s property values determine the required fees. Young estimated Summit County would pay $233,000 to join the program, with an $80,000 charge for each year the county remains an active member. The County Council also has the option of backing out of the fund at any time once the yearlong contract ends.
However, Young recommended staying in the Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund because Summit County prosecutors anticipate the area seeing similar cases as the county continues to grow.
Summit County Councilor Tonja Hanson asked Young about an extra $1 million the state Legislature awarded to Utah County to prosecute Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last fall. She wondered whether a similar request from Summit County could garner more funds for the Richins appeal, but Young said she thought the additional monies were granted due to the high profile nature of Robinson’s case.
“That is very unprecedented,” Young said. “I don’t think counties have done that before. It didn’t occur to us that it was an option.”
County Council Vice Chair Roger Armstrong questioned whether the county has enough murder cases to justify the ongoing annual costs, but Young said the fund’s coverage of the Richins appeal alone would likely save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though she’s still working through the specifics of how much the program will provide.
“I anticipate the appeal costing more than $233,000,” Young said, referring to the initial fee to join the program. “She is facing life in prison without parole, so I could also see the appeal covering multiple years as well.”
Young said the county budgeted $500,000 for the Richins case in 2026 and has spent $143,000 of those funds as of this week. She said the $233,000 to join the program could be pulled from the remaining money.
The County Council unanimously voted to join the Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund, with a stipulation that the funds received need to cover the costs of Richins’ appeal for the county to finalize the agreement.
The Indigent Defense Commission will meet in June to discuss accepting Summit County into the program.