---
title: 'Duval County, Florida, Leader in Death Sentences'
description: '(Click to enlarge) According to a report by the Christian Science Monitor, Duval County, Florida, has the highest per capita rate for inmates on death row…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/duval-county-florida-leader-in-death-sentences'
section: news
date: '2014-12-01T16:00:13-05:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:39:29-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! *(Click to enlarge)* According to a report by the *Christian Science Monitor*, **Duval County, Florida**, has the highest per capita rate for inmates on death row of any U.S. county. Duval has sentenced one person to death for every 14,000 residents. It is among the 2% of counties in the U.S. reponsible for a majority of all inmates on death row as of 2013, as described in DPIC's report, [**The 2% Death Penalty**](/twopercent). Duval County ranked 8th, with 60 inmates on death row. Duval has handed down 14 death sentences in the last 5 years. As a s state, Florida had the second highest number of death sentences in 2013, behind only California. Florida's unusual sentencing procedures, which allow a simple majority of the jury to recommend a death sentence, may explain some of Duval's high sentencing numbers, but experts also point to cultural factors. Seth Kotch, a historian from the University of North Carolina, said, "We know that the best predictor of execution is previous execution, which suggests that a courthouse or a county can get into a habit of doing things, and those habitual behaviors are informed by cultural cues about crime and punishment.”

(P. Jonsson, "[The view from the US county where death penalty invoked the most, per capita](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2014/1129/The-view-from-the-US-county-where-death-penalty-invoked-the-most-per-capita)," Christian Science Monitor, November 29, 2014). See **[Arbitrariness](/arbitrariness)**. Read DPIC's report, "**[The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All](/twopercent)**" (2013).