How much has it cost taxpayers to jail Lori Vallow Daybell in Arizona?

PHOENIX — Less than a week ago, Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced to two life sentences in Arizona. Those life sentences are on top of five other life sentences in Idaho.

RELATED: ‘You’ve shattered lives’: Lori Vallow Daybell gets life sentence for Arizona murder conspiracies

She was convicted in Idaho for murdering her children, Tylee and JJ, and for her role in the death of her current husband’s first wife.

Then she was extradited to Arizona, where she was convicted for conspiring to kill her former husband, Charles Vallow, who died in 2019, and for conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at but not injured.

Vallow Daybell was extradited from Idaho to Arizona back in November 2023, and she’s been in MCSO custody ever since.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office provided the 12News I-Team with a breakdown of current costs associated with housing an inmate in custody.

MCOS said there’s a one-time booking charge of $640. Additionally, there is a daily custody fee of approximately $137 each day the inmate remains in custody. MCSO said these costs are coming from taxpayer dollars.

As of Wednesday, July 30, the I-Team counted that Vallow Daybell has been in MCSO custody for 610 days. When you multiply that number by $137 and add the booking charge, that brings the amount to about $84,000.

In 2024, the I-Team obtained MCSO records showing Vallow Daybell’s extradition from Idaho to Arizona cost more than $15,000.

That brings the total spent on Vallow Daybell through MCSO above $99,000 as of Wednesday, July 30. 

Now that she’s been sentenced in Arizona, she’s expected to be extradited back to Idaho to serve her life sentences in that state.

Her current husband, Chad Daybell, was also convicted of murder in the Idaho case. He was sentenced to death in Idaho and is the ninth person on that state’s death row.

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