Executions

Methods of Execution

Lethal injection is the most widely-used method of execution, but many states authorize other methods including electrocution, lethal gas, and firing squad.

Overview

The pri­ma­ry means of exe­cu­tion in the U.S. have been hang­ing, elec­tro­cu­tion, the gas cham­ber, fir­ing squad, and lethal injec­tion. The Supreme Court has nev­er found a method of exe­cu­tion to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, though some meth­ods have been declared uncon­sti­tu­tion­al by state courts. The pre­dom­i­nance of lethal injec­tion as the pre­ferred means of exe­cu­tion in all states in the mod­ern era may have put off any judg­ment by the Court regard­ing older methods.

Because of a resis­tance by drug man­u­fac­tur­ers to pro­vide the drugs typ­i­cal­ly used in lethal injec­tions, some states now allow the use of alter­na­tive meth­ods if lethal injec­tion can­not be per­formed. Controversies sur­round­ing the method to be used have delayed exe­cu­tions in many states, con­tribut­ing to an over­all decline in the use of the death penalty.

Authorized Methods

NOTE: [Brackets] around a state indi­cate that the state autho­rizes the list­ed method as an alter­na­tive method if oth­er meth­ods are found to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al or are unavailable/​impractical. Click on the state to obtain spe­cif­ic infor­ma­tion about the meth­ods autho­rized.
 

Method# of exe­cu­tions by method since 1976# of states autho­riz­ing methodJurisdictions that Authorize
Lethal Injection1424

28 states+ and U.S. Military and U.S. Gov’t

In South Carolina, lethal injec­tion may be elect­ed as an alter­na­tive method, if available.

+includes 1 state that no longer have an active death penalty

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida^, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire*, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, [South Carolina], South Dakota, Tennessee^, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, U.S. Military, U.S. Government

*New Hampshire abol­ished the death penal­ty but the repeal may not apply retroac­tive­ly, leav­ing a pris­on­er on death row fac­ing possible execution.

To find the drug pro­to­cols used by states, see State-by-State Lethal Injection.

Electrocution1639 states (in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er 8 have lethal injec­tion as default method).

[Alabama], [Arkansas], Florida, Kentucky, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], [Oklahoma], South Carolina, [Tennessee]

The supreme courts of Georgia (2001) and Nebraska (2008) have ruled that the use of the elec­tric chair vio­lates their state con­sti­tu­tion­al pro­hi­bi­tions against cru­el and unusual punishment.

Virginia had autho­rized the elec­tric chair as a method of exe­cu­tion in some cas­es, but it repealed the death penal­ty in March 2021.

Lethal Gas148 states (all have lethal injec­tion as default method)

[Alabama], Arizona, California, [Louisiana], [Mississippi], Missouri, [Oklahoma], [Wyoming]

Four states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma) specif­i­cal­ly autho­rize exe­cu­tion by nitro­gen hypox­ia, though only Alabama has issued a pro­to­col for its use. Alabama is the only state that has per­formed an exe­cu­tion by nitro­gen hypox­ia. The oth­er states list­ed autho­rize ​“lethal gas,” but do not spec­i­fy what type of gas would be used.

Firing Squad35 states (in South Carolina, elec­tro­cu­tion is the default method; the oth­er states have lethal injec­tion as primary method)[Mississippi], [Oklahoma], [Utah], [South Carolina], [Idaho]

^Both Florida and Tennessee explic­it­ly autho­rize lethal injec­tion and elec­tro­cu­tion, but state that, if those meth­ods are found uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, pris­on­ers may be exe­cut­ed by any con­sti­tu­tion­al method of execution.

News & Developments

News

Jan 21, 2025

Among Flurry of First-Day Executive Orders, President Trump Issues Order on the Death Penalty
Five vials of clear liquid, varying sizes. One is on its side with a syringe in it.

On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed more than two dozen Executive Orders, includ­ing a call to​“restore” the fed­er­al death penal­ty. The Order, while lack­ing many impor­tant details, instructs the Department of Justice’s Attorney General to​“pur­sue the death penal­ty for all crimes of a sever­i­ty demand­ing its use,” includ­ing the killing of a law enforce­ment offi­cer or​“a cap­i­tal crime com­mit­ted by an ille­gal alien present in this coun­try” and to encourage…

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News

Jan 16, 2025

Department of Justice Withdraws Federal Execution Protocol and Keeps Moratorium on Executions in Place

Three and a half years after announc­ing its inves­ti­ga­tion into the fed­er­al death penal­ty pro­to­col, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on January 15, 2025 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is rescind­ing the fed­er­al government’s sin­­gle-drug pen­to­bar­bi­tal lethal injec­tion pro­to­col. The DOJ’s deci­sion was based on what AG Garland called​“sig­nif­i­cant uncer­tain­ty” about whether exe­cu­tions by pen­to­bar­bi­tal caused unnec­es­sary pain and suf­fer­ing. The…

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News

Jan 03, 2025

Tennessee to Resume Executions with Single-Drug Lethal Injection Protocol

On December 27, 2024, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) com­plet­ed a mul­ti-year lethal injec­tion pro­to­col review and announced that instead of the pre­vi­ous three-drug cock­tail, lethal injec­tion exe­cu­tions will use a sin­­gle-drug bar­bi­t­u­ate, pen­to­bar­bi­tal. Ohio was the first state to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal, in the March 2011 exe­cu­tion of Johnnie Roy Baston. State offi­cials now use sin­gle drug pro­to­cols in 14 states, includ­ing Tennessee, as well as in…

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Five vials of clear liquid, varying sizes. One is on its side with a syringe in it.

News

Nov 07, 2024

Idaho: Federal Judge Grants Stay of Execution for Thomas Creech; Defense Asks Court to Bar Death Penalty for Bryan Kohberger

After sur­viv­ing a botched exe­cu­tion attempt in February, Thomas Creech was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion a sec­ond time on November 13 in Idaho. On Wednesday, November 6, a fed­er­al dis­trict court issued a stay of exe­cu­tion to allow more time to con­sid­er Mr. Creech’s legal claims. The Idaho Department of Corrections announced that ​“exe­cu­tion prepa­ra­tions have been sus­pend­ed” and the exe­cu­tion warrant will…

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News

Oct 31, 2024

Kentucky Supreme Court Denies Attorney General’s Request to Remove Injunction on Executions

On October 24, 2024, the Kentucky Supreme Court denied a request by the Attorney General and the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) to remove an injunc­tion cur­rent­ly pro­hibit­ing exe­cu­tions in Kentucky. In 2010, a Franklin County Circuit judge ordered a tem­po­rary injunc­tion of all exe­cu­tions due to con­cerns regard­ing numer­ous aspects of Kentucky’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col, includ­ing con­cerns about the men­tal sta­tus and intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty sta­tus of death row pris­on­ers and the state’s…

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