Twenty-seven states currently have the death penalty on the books, but only a small group actually carries out executions. Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, and South Carolina account for most executions in any given year, while several other states with capital punishment statutes have not put anyone to death in a decade or longer. Four states keep their laws in place but have halted executions by gubernatorial order, and 23 states plus the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty entirely.
The 27 States That Authorize Capital Punishment
Every state below has a death penalty statute in force. Whether that statute leads to actual executions is a separate question, and the answer varies enormously from state to state.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Wyoming
In 2024, 25 people were executed nationwide. Through the first seven months of 2025, 27 executions had already taken place, with about 61 percent concentrated in Texas, Florida, and South Carolina. That concentration has been consistent for years: a handful of states drive the national numbers while most of the other 27 execute rarely, if at all.
States with Moratoriums on Executions
Four of the 27 authorizing states have halted executions without repealing their laws. A moratorium does not empty death row or change the underlying statute. It means the governor has decided no execution warrants will be signed while they remain in office, and a successor can lift the pause.
California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-09-19 in March 2019, halting all executions and closing the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. The order cited racial disparities, the roughly $5 billion the state had spent on its death penalty since 1978 for only 13 executions, and discrimination against defendants with mental illness or inadequate legal representation.1State of California. Executive Order N-09-19 Newsom’s term runs through early 2027.
Pennsylvania. Governor Tom Wolf declared a moratorium in February 2015, calling the capital punishment system “ineffective, unjust, and expensive.” Governor Josh Shapiro continued it after taking office in 2023 and said he would sign a reprieve every time a warrant reached his desk. Shapiro also called on the legislature to repeal the death penalty outright.
Oregon. Governor John Kitzhaber halted executions in 2011. Governor Kate Brown kept the moratorium in place and in 2022 commuted every death sentence on Oregon’s death row. Governor Tina Kotek, who took office in January 2023, has continued the pause.
Ohio. Ohio has not carried out an execution since 2018. In February 2025, Governor Mike DeWine said he does not anticipate any executions during the rest of his term, which ends in 2026. The state still holds roughly 113 people on the nation’s fifth-largest death row, and it has struggled for years to obtain lethal injection drugs while the legislature debates whether to abolish capital punishment or authorize nitrogen gas.
States Without the Death Penalty
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment. If your state is on this list, no one can be sentenced to death there regardless of the crime.
Michigan led the way in 1847. The most recent abolitions came from Virginia in 2021, the first southern state to repeal, and Washington in 2023, where the state Supreme Court struck down the statute. The full list, with the year of abolition: Alaska (1957), Colorado (2020), Connecticut (2012), Delaware (2016), Hawaii (1957), Illinois (2011), Iowa (1965), Maine (1887), Maryland (2013), Massachusetts (1984), Michigan (1847), Minnesota (1911), New Hampshire (2019), New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), New York (2007), North Dakota (1973), Rhode Island (1984), Vermont (1972), Virginia (2021), Washington (2023), West Virginia (1965), and Wisconsin (1853).
The path to abolition matters. Legislative repeal is permanent unless a future legislature passes a new statute. A court ruling, like New York’s in 2004 or Washington’s in 2023, could in theory be revisited. The practical effect for now is the same: no executions.
Who Can Actually Be Sentenced to Death
Even in the 27 authorizing states, the Supreme Court has narrowed who is eligible for a death sentence. These limits apply everywhere and override state law.
The current framework starts with Gregg v. Georgia (1976), which held that the death penalty does not automatically violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment as long as the sentencing process includes adequate safeguards against arbitrary application.2Justia. Gregg v Georgia, 428 US 153 (1976) Three later rulings tightened eligibility:
- Atkins v. Virginia (2002) barred executions of people with intellectual disabilities, finding them “categorically less culpable than the average criminal.”3Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Atkins v Virginia
- Roper v. Simmons (2005) held that the Constitution forbids executing anyone who was under 18 at the time of the crime.4Library of Congress. Roper v Simmons, 543 US 551 (2005)
- Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008) held that the death penalty cannot be imposed for crimes against individuals that do not result in the victim’s death, no matter how severe.5Legal Information Institute. Kennedy v Louisiana
In practice, state capital punishment is reserved for aggravated murder committed by an adult who does not have an intellectual disability. Certain federal offenses, like treason and espionage, remain death-eligible without a homicide.
Execution Methods by State
Lethal injection is the primary method in every state that has the death penalty, but drug shortages have pushed several states to authorize alternatives.
Alabama carried out the first execution using nitrogen hypoxia in January 2024. Alabama law lets the condemned choose between lethal injection, electrocution, and nitrogen hypoxia.6Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-18-82.1 – Methods of Execution, Election of Method, Constitutionality Arkansas authorized nitrogen gas as a backup method in March 2025.
Firing squads are authorized in several states. Idaho passed a law in March 2025 making the firing squad its primary execution method, effective July 1, 2026, with lethal injection as backup. Utah, Oklahoma, and Mississippi allow firing squads under specific circumstances. South Carolina permits both the firing squad and the electric chair.
Electrocution remains available in about nine states, usually as a secondary method when the inmate requests it or when lethal injection is unavailable. Florida allows inmates to choose electrocution, though few do.7Justia. Florida Code Chapter 922 – Execution Arizona and California still list lethal gas as an option for inmates sentenced before certain dates, but neither has used it in decades.
Death Row Populations Don’t Match Execution Rates
As of early 2025, about 2,092 people were on death rows nationwide, and the distribution is heavily skewed. California holds the largest death row at roughly 591 people despite not having executed anyone since 2006. Florida’s death row is second at about 283. Texas, the country’s most active executioner since 1976, holds a smaller row of around 180 because it moves cases through the system faster.8Bureau of Justice Statistics. Capital Punishment, 2022 – Statistical Tables
Most people sentenced to death are never executed. Sentences get overturned on appeal, commuted by a governor, or outlasted by decades of litigation. Since 1973, at least 202 death-sentenced prisoners have been fully exonerated, most often after evidence of official misconduct or perjury came to light.
The Federal Death Penalty Is Separate
The federal government runs its own capital punishment system, independent of state law. The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, codified at 18 U.S.C. Chapter 228, lists the eligible crimes and sets the procedures.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code Chapter 228 – Death Sentence Federal prosecutors need Department of Justice authorization before pursuing a death sentence.
Most federal capital crimes involve murder, but treason (18 U.S.C. § 2381) and espionage (18 U.S.C. § 794) carry the death penalty regardless of whether anyone died. Genocide, terrorism resulting in death, and murder connected to large-scale drug trafficking are also eligible.
The federal approach has swung between administrations. The first Trump administration ended a 17-year pause and carried out 13 executions. The Biden administration imposed a moratorium. In April 2026, the Department of Justice rescinded that moratorium, reinstated the pentobarbital protocol, directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand the protocol to include the firing squad, and authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants.10United States Department of Justice. The Justice Department Takes Actions to Strengthen the Federal Death Penalty Under federal law, the execution method follows the law of the state where the defendant was sentenced. If that state has no death penalty, the court designates one that does.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 3596 – Implementation of a Sentence of Death
The military maintains a separate death row at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where four men are currently sentenced to death. The Uniform Code of Military Justice authorizes capital punishment for offenses including murder, mutiny, and espionage during wartime. No military execution can proceed unless the President personally confirms the sentence. The military has not executed anyone since 1961.