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Utah County leaders are navigating mounting costs, national media attention and public frustration over the county’s obligation to pay for defense attorneys in the case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner, one of three elected county commissioners who oversee policy, operations and finances, said Utah County has already spent “just over a quarter of a million dollars” on the case, a figure expected to double by year’s end and could reach around $5 million over the next year and a half.
“Under the Constitution, we have a right to a competent defense,” Powers Gardner said. “It is imperative that if we want to have a society that we believe in justice, that justice needs to be fair and equal.”
She said she’s heard from constituents who are frustrated that taxpayer dollars will fund his defense. Still, she emphasized the county’s constitutional duty and the financial wisdom of ensuring a fair trial, especially in a potential death-penalty case.
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Powers Gardner said part of her role is keeping the community united after a tragedy that affected residents across political lines.
“My job is also to be a leader for my community, and that’s what I have focused on,” she said. “You have to keep in mind, not everybody who was traumatized that day was a Charlie Kirk supporter. There were hundreds of people there that were protesting at that event and were just as traumatized that they saw a father and husband murdered.”
“Our community had a horrific event take place, and that horrific event has affected people across party and ideological lines. Our job in local government is not to play politics, but to take care of all of our citizens — the ones that voted for me and the ones that didn’t. They’re still my constituents, and I work hard for them.”
The judge deemed Robinson eligible for public defense, requiring the county to hire a death-penalty-certified team after all local attorneys declined the county’s standard contract.
“Because it is Charlie Kirk, we sent out that standard contract and got zero attorneys who were willing to take the case for our standard contract,” Powers Gardner said. “It’s a very emotionally and politically charged case. And because of that, none of our usual defense attorneys were willing to take the case.”
She added that due to this being a “very high profile case,” most of their usual contracts were not valid.
ALLEGED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON’S DEFENSE COULD COST UTAH TAXPAYERS ‘EIGHT FIGURES’: EXPERTS
“That is very frustrating, but keep in mind that if there’s any way that the defense in the future could claim that we scrimped or saved or undercut their ability to have a competent defense, that means appeals. And appeals mean more money and more time. It’s actually the most prudent use of taxpayer dollars to give Tyler Robinson a competent defense the first time.”
Powers Gardner said the county tried joining Utah’s Aggravated Murder Defense Fund in 2024, a pool designed to offset defense costs in capital cases, but was denied. At the time of the killing, Powers Gardner said the county’s reserve for aggravated-murder cases had just $31 left.
Powers Gardner estimated the impact at about $5 per taxpayer spread over the course of the case, which she estimated could be roughly two years.
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Beyond legal costs, Powers Gardner detailed new security and operational burdens.
“Just housing Tyler Robinson in our jail is very expensive… He will be transferred using armored vehicles, and we will have to clear buildings around the courthouse, and we will have to cover that because there have been threats,” she said.
The county has implemented active-shooter training for the first time and continues to absorb overtime costs.
“In six weeks, we’ve used $250,000 on this,” she said. “And we haven’t even started appearing in court yet.”
Powers Gardner credited Gov. Spencer Cox for being “incredibly supportive,” noting that he was personally engaged and communicative in the days following the shooting.
UTAH PROSECUTORS PREPARE POTENTIAL DEATH PENALTY CASE AGAINST CHARLIE KIRK SUSPECT TYLER JAMES ROBINSON
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Robinson faces a top charge of aggravated murder, which carries a potential death penalty.
Prosecutors allege Robinson used his grandfather’s Mauser .30-06 rifle to climb onto a campus rooftop and shoot Kirk once in the neck while Kirk was speaking at a Utah Valley University campus event on Sept. 10.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to [email protected].
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