States have a variety of ways to compensate persons determined to be innocent of crimes for which they were wrongfully convicted, NPR.com reports.
Twenty-one states provide no money, but the former prisoner can sue for compensation. Some former prisoners have been awarded $1 million for each year they served in prison, NPR said.
Twelve states and the District of Columbia pay on an individual case basis.
Seventeen states pay a fixed amount for each year of imprisonment, ranging from $80,000 per year in Texas and $70,000 in Colorado to $5,000 in Wisconsin. California pays $36,500 per year.
Several states and the federal government pay $50,000 for each year of wrongful incarceration. The states are Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Washington.
The fixed amounts usually require a former prisoner to agree not to take the case to court.
States that pay the wrongfully convicted might actually be trying to save money, according to Brandon Garrett, University of Virginia law professor and author of Convicting the Innocent.