Summary of State Death Penalty Statutes

The Bureau of Justice Statistics Capital Punishment 2021 (pub. November 2023) lists the fol­low­ing as cap­i­tal crimes, by state:

Alabama — Intentional mur­der (Ala. Stat. Ann. § 13A‑5 – 40(a)(1)-(18)) with 14 aggra­vat­ing fac­tors (Ala. Stat. Ann. § 13A‑5 – 49).

Arizona — First-degree mur­der, includ­ing pre-med­i­tat­ed mur­der and felony mur­der, accom­pa­nied by at least 1 of 10 aggra­vat­ing fac­tors (A.R.S. § 13 – 703(F)). [First-degree mur­der is defined in A.R.S. § 13 – 1105. Aggravating and mit­i­gat­ing cir­cum­stances are set forth at A.R.S. § 13 – 751.]

Arkansas — Capital mur­der (Ark. Code Ann. § 5 – 10-101) with a find­ing of at least 1 of 10 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances; and trea­son (Ark. Code Ann. § 5 – 51-201).

California — First-degree mur­der with spe­cial cir­cum­stances; mil­i­tary sab­o­tage; train­wreck caus­ing death; trea­son; per­jury result­ing in exe­cu­tion of an inno­cent per­son; and fatal assault by a pris­on­er serv­ing a life sentence.

[California’s death penal­ty pro­vi­sions are set forth in Cal. Penal Code §§ 187 – 199. Section 187 defines first-degree mur­der. Section 190.2 sets forth the ​“spe­cial cir­cum­stances” that make a first-degree murder death-eligible.]

Colorado — [Abolished the death penal­ty in 2021]

Connecticut — [Abolished the death penal­ty in 2012]

Delaware — First-degree mur­der (11 Del. C. § 636) with at least 1 statu­to­ry aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance (11 Del. C. § 4209). [In August 2016, the Delaware Supreme Court found the exist­ing statute uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. As of May 1, 2018, there is no con­sti­tu­tion­al­ly valid death-penalty statute.]

Florida — First-degree mur­der, defined as pre­med­i­tat­ed mur­der, felony mur­der, and death result­ing from cap­i­tal drug-traf­fick­ing felonies. [First-degree mur­der is defined in Fl. Stat. § 782.04. Aggravating cir­cum­stances are now set forth in Fl. Stat. § 921.141(6).]

Georgia — Murder with aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances; rape, armed rob­bery, or kid­nap­ping with bod­i­ly injury or ran­som when the vic­tim dies; air­craft hijack­ing; trea­son. (GA Code § 17 – 10-30)

Idaho — First-degree mur­der with aggra­vat­ing fac­tors; first-degree kid­nap­ping; per­jury result­ing in the exe­cu­tion of an inno­cent per­son. [Idaho Stat. § 19 – 2515]

Indiana — Murder with 1 or more of 18 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (I.C. 35 – 50‑2 – 9).

Kansas — Intentional and pre­med­i­tat­ed killing of a per­son in 1 or more of 7 dif­fer­ent cir­cum­stances (KSA § 21 – 5401).

Kentucky — Intentional mur­der with the pres­ence of at least 1 statu­to­ry aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance; and cap­i­tal kid­nap­ping (KRS § 532.025).

Louisiana — First-degree mur­der with aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (La. R.S. 14:30); and trea­son (La. R.S. 14:113).

Mississippi — Capital mur­der with aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (Miss. Code Ann. § 97 – 3‑19(2)); air­craft pira­cy (Miss. Code Ann. § 97 – 25-55(1)).

Missouri — First-degree mur­der with at least 1 statu­to­ry aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance (565.032.1 RSMO). [Missouri’s aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances: 565.032.1 RSMO.]

Montana — Deliberate homi­cide, includ­ing felony mur­der, with 1 of 9 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (Mont. Code Ann. § 46 – 18-303); aggra­vat­ed kid­nap­ping result­ing in death of vic­tim or res­cuer; attempt­ed delib­er­ate homi­cide; aggra­vat­ed assault, or kid­nap­ping while in deten­tion; and cap­i­tal sex­u­al inter­course with­out con­sent (Mont. Code Ann. § 45 – 5‑503).

Nebraska — First-degree mur­der with a find­ing of 1 or more statu­to­ry aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stance. [Nebraska Rev. § Stat 29 – 2523]

Nevada — First-degree mur­der with at least 1 of 15 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (NRS 200.030, 200.033, 200.035).

New Hampshire [Abolished the death penal­ty in 2019. This leg­is­la­tion did not apply ret­ro­spec­tive­ly, leav­ing one indi­vid­ual on the state’s death row.]

New Mexico -[Abolished the death penal­ty in 2009]

New York* - First-degree mur­der of 1 of 13 aggra­vat­ing fac­tors (NY Penal Law § 125.27.)

North Carolina — First-degree mur­der (NCGS §14 – 17) with the find­ing of at least 1 of 11 statu­to­ry aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (NCGS §15A-2000).

Ohio — Aggravated mur­der with at least 1 of 10 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (O.R.C. §§ 2903.01, 2929.02, 2929.04).

Oklahoma — First-degree mur­der in con­junc­tion with a find­ing of at least 1 of 8 statu­to­ri­ly defined aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances. (21 OK Stat § 21 – 701.12 (2015))

Oregon — Aggravated mur­der (ORS § 163.095).

Pennsylvania — First-degree mur­der with 18 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances. [42 Pa.C.S. § 9711]

South Carolina — Murder with 1 of 12 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (§ 16 – 3‑20(C)(a))

South Dakota — First-degree mur­der with 1 of 10 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances. (S.D.C.L. 23A-27A‑1).

Tennessee — First-degree mur­der (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39 – 13-202) with 1 of 18 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39 – 13-204).

Texas — Capital mur­der, defined as crim­i­nal homi­cide with 1 of 9 aggra­vat­ing cir­cum­stances (Tex. Penal Code § 19.03).

Utah — Aggravated mur­der (Utah Code Ann. § 76 – 5‑202).

Virginia — [Abolished the death penal­ty in 2021]

Washington** — Aggravated first-degree mur­der. [RCW § 10.95.020] [In October 2018, the Washington Supreme Court found the exist­ing statute unconstitutional.]

Wyoming — First-degree mur­der, includ­ing pre­med­i­tat­ed mur­der and mur­der dur­ing the com­mis­sion of sex­u­al assu­alt, sex­u­al abuse of a minor, arson, rob­bery, bur­glary, escape, resist­ing arrest, kid­nap­ping, or abuse of a minor younger than age 16 (W.S.A. § 6 – 2‑101(a))

*New York abol­ished the death penal­ty in 2007. BJS lists the statute with a note explain­ing that the New York Court of Appeals held that a por­tion of the state’s death-penal­ty sen­tenc­ing statute (CPL 400.27) was uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. See People v. Taylor, 9 N.Y. 3^d 129 (2007) (apply­ing rul­ing to remain­ing pris­on­ers on death row). No leg­isla­tive action has been tak­en to amend the statute. As a result, cap­i­tal cas­es are no longer pur­sued in New York.

**Washington state Governor Jay Inslee signed leg­is­la­tion on April 21, 2023, for­mal­ly abol­ish­ing the death penal­ty and remov­ing the state laws that were pre­vi­ous­ly found unconstitutional.