Topeka ? Kansas Attorney General Steve Six is pleased that a bill repealing the state’s death penalty law has failed to advance in the Senate.

Senators sent the measure back to committee Monday for more study, probably ending the debate on it this year.

Six had opposed the measure. After the Senate’s voice vote, he said: “Kansas has a responsible death penalty statute and it should stand.”

Opponents of capital punishment had made its cost their biggest issue in pushing for its repeal. They cited a 2003 audit that showed capital cases generate $500,000 more in costs than other murder cases.

But Six had said the analysis was flawed and that the state shouldn’t put a price on justice.

Some senators also said the repeal bill was flawed.