Below are important pieces of death penalty legislation that have recently passed or are currently being considered. (DPIC welcomes additions and suggestions.)

(Left: A board displays the vote totals in the Kentucky Senate on HB 269, a bill to prohibit the imposition of the death penalty against individuals with a documented history of serious mental illness. One late vote was added to the tally displayed on the vote board. The 25-9 vote on March 25, 2022 completed legislative approval of the measure, which was forwarded to the governor for final action.)

2022 - Proposed legislation
States with bills to abolish death penalty indicated with *
Session dates via StateScape
State names link to state legislative homepage

ALABAMA (Session dates: 01/11/2022 - 05/17/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 76/SB 196	Would amend the Alabama constitution to require the governor to notify victims’ family members before granting a reprieve or commutation to a person sentenced to death	SB 76 introduced January 13, 2022 by Sen. Sam Givhan (R), Chris Elliott (R), and Will Barfoot (R). SB 196 introduced February 8, 2022 by Sen. Steve Livingston (R) and Sam Givhan (R).

ARIZONA* (Session dates: 01/10/2022 - 05/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HCR 2002	Would repeal the death penalty	Introduced by Rep. Athena Salman (D)

CALIFORNIA* (Session dates: 12/07/2020 - 11/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
ACA 2	Would amend the California constitution to prohibit the death penalty from being imposed as a punishment for any violations of law.	Read first time December 7, 2020. Referred to the Appropriations Committee and the Committee on Public Safety on February 18. Sponsored by Assembly Members Laura Friedman (D), Mike Gipson (D), and Mark Stone (D).
AB 1224	Would allow a judge to dismiss a finding of a “special circumstance.” Under current law, if certain special circumstances are found in a first degree murder case, the defendant must be sentenced to death.	Introduced February 19, 2021 by Member Marc Levine (D). Referred to the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on March 4 and PASSED by the committee by a vote of 5-2 on April 21.
SB 300	Would repeal a provision requiring punishment by death or imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole for a person convicted of murder in the first degree who is not the actual killer, but acted with reckless indifference for human life as a major participant in certain specified violent felonies. Would also allow prisoners sentenced under that provision to petition for a resentencing. Would allow judges to strike special circumstances.	Introduced February 3, 2021 by Sen. Dave Cortese (D). PASSED by the Senate Committee on Public Safety by a vote of 4-0 on April 6 and referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Ordered to the Inactive File on June 2 at the request of the legislative sponsor.
AB 256	The “Racial Justice Act for All” would make California’s 2020 Racial Justice Act retroactive.	Introduced January 14, 2021 by Assembly Members Ash Kalra (D), Robert Rivas (D), and Miguel Santiago (D), and Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D). PASSED by the Public Safety Committee (6-2) on March 23. PASSED by the Appropriations Committee (4-0) on May 20. PASSED the Assembly (45-21) on June 1. PASSED by the Senate Public Safety Committee (4-1) on June 29. Suspended by the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 26. The bill can be considered by the Senate in 2022.
AB 2657	Would create a mechanism to remove from death row individuals who are permanently mentally incompetent	Introduced February 18, 2022 by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D). Referred to Committee on Public Safety on March 10.

FLORIDA* (Session dates: 01/11/2022 - 03/11/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 386/H 6061	Would abolish the death penalty.	SB 386 filed September 30, 2021 by Sen. Gary Farmer Jr. (D). H 6061 filed October 20, 2021 by Rep. Joseph Geller (D).
SB 770/HB 1251	Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness	SB 770 filed November 2, 2021 by Sen. Jeff Brandes (R). Died in committee on March 14, 2022. HB 1251 filed January 6, 2022 by Rep. Vance Aloupis Jr. (R). Died in committee on March 14, 2022.
SB 1204/HB 873	Would create a public records exemption for information that could reveal the identity of a “person or entity” that participates in an execution	Senate bill filed December 8, 2021 by Sen. Doug Broxson (R). PASSED Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Jan. 25 by a 9-0 vote. PASSED Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 7 by a 10-0 vote. PASSED Senate Rules Committee on Feb. 15 by a 9-6 vote. House bill filed December 8, 2021 by Rep. Patt Maney (R). PASSED the House on March 3, 2022 by a vote of 84-31. PASSED the Senate on March 7 by a vote of 28-10. SIGNED by the Governor on May 12.

GEORGIA* (Session dates: 01/11/2021 - 03/31/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 485	Would repeal the death penalty	Introduced February 17, 2021 by five Democratic sponsors and one Republican sponsor.
HB 1426	Would change the standard of proof for intellectual disability in capital cases. Georgia currently has the nation’s highest standard of proof for intellectual disability (“beyond a reasonable doubt”). The bill would lower it to “by a preponderance of evidence,” aligning it with most other states’ standards.	Introduced February 22, 2022 by Rep. Beth Moore (D), Rep. Bill Werkheiser (R), and Rep. Stan Gunter (R).

IDAHO (Session dates: 01/10/2022 - 03/20/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 658	Would make the identity of lethal-injection drug suppliers and others involved in executions confidential, and prevent doctors who participate in executions from having their licenses revoked	Introduced February 16, 2022 by the State Affairs Committee. Hearing held in the Judiciary Committee February 17. PASSED committee on February 18. PASSED the House by a 38-30 vote on February 24. Hearing held in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee on March 9. Failed by an initial 4-4 vote in committee on March 9, but later PASSED 5-4 with all committee members present on March 15. PASSED the Senate by a 21-14 vote on March 18. SIGNED by the Governor on March 23.

ILLINOIS (Session dates: 01/13/2021 - 01/11/2023)

Bill number

Bill Description

Status

HB 3627/SB 614/SB 2219

Would reinstate the death penalty

HB 3627 filed February 19, 2021 by Rep. Andrew S. Chesney (R), referred to Rules Committee.

SB 614 filed February 24, 2021 by Sen. Brian W. Stewart (R), referred to Assignments Committee.

SB 2219 filed February 26, 2021 by Sen. Jason Plummer (R), referred to Assignments Committee.

SB 3899/HB 4746

Would reinstate the death penalty for killing a police officer in the course of performing his or her official duties

SB 3899 filed January 21, 2022 by Sen. Darren Bailey (R), referred to Assignments Committee.

HB 4746 filed January 24, 2022 by Rep. Dave Severin (R), referred to Rules Committee January 27, assigned to the Judiciary - Criminal Committee February 9, and re-referred to the Rules Committee February 18.

INDIANA (Session dates: 01/04/2022 - 03/11/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status

IOWA (Session dates: 01/11/2021 - 05/31/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SF 82/SSB 1004/HF 271	Would reinstate the death penalty for murder in the first degree involving kidnapping and sexual abuse offenses against the same victim who is a minor	Introduced January 14, 2021 by 14 Republican sponsors in the Senate and 1 Republican sponsor in the House and referred to Judiciary Committee. Failed to make it out of committee by deadline for passage.
SF 534, as amended by H-1306	The amendment would reinstate the death penalty for the murder of a “correctional officer, public employee, or hostage while the person is imprisoned in a correction institution under the jurisdiction of the Iowa Department of Corrections, or in a city or county jail … or a peace officer who is on duty, under any circumstances, with knowledge that the person killed is a peace officer.”	Amendment filed in the House Committee on Public Safety by Rep. Jon Jacobsen (R) on March 25, 2021 after SF 534, passed the Senate on March 10, 2021. No hearing has been scheduled.

KANSAS* (Session dates: 01/11/2021 - 05/27/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 136	Would abolish the death penalty	Introduced February 3, 2021 by the Committee on Ways and Means and referred to Judiciary Committee
HB 2300	Would abolish the death penalty for crimes committed after July 1, 2021	Introduced February 9, 2021 by a bipartisan coalition of 34 sponsors and referred to Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice

KENTUCKY* (Session dates: 01/04/2022 - 03/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 47	Would abolish the death penalty	Introduced on January 5, 2022 by one Republican and three Democratic sponsors.
HB 269	Would exempt people with severe mental illness from the death penalty and require that defendants seeking an exemption due to intellectual disability or severe mental illness file their motion 120 days before trial	Introduced on January 11, 2022 by a bipartisan group of 21 sponsors. Reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee on February 3. PASSED the House by a 76-19 vote on Feb. 9. Reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 17 and PASSED by the full Senate by a vote of 25-9 on March 25. SIGNED by the Governor on April 8.

LOUISIANA* (Session dates: 03/14/2022 - 06/06/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 294/HB 106	Would abolish the death penalty	SB 294 prefiled by Sen. Katrina Jackson (D) on March 3. HB 106 prefiled by Rep. Kyle M. Green (D) on February 21.
HB 68	Would make parents convicted of killing their own children eligible for the death penalty. Murder of any child under age 12 is already a death-eligible crime.	Prefiled by Rep. Barbara Carpenter (D) on February 14. PASSED Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice on March 24 by a 9-2 vote.

MISSISSIPPI (Session dates: 01/04/2022 - 04/01/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 800	Would remove firing squad as an authorized method of execution	Introduced by Rep. Zakiya Summers (D) on January 17, 2022. Died in committee February 1.
HB 1479/SB 2655	Would grant the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections discretion to determine the method of execution from the options of lethal injection, electrocution, nitrogen hypoxia, or firing squad	HB 1479 introduced by Rep. Nick Bain (R) on January 17, 2022. PASSED the House by a vote of 81-38-3 on February 3, 2022. PASSED the Senate by a vote of 38-14 on March 8. SIGNED by the Governor on April 14. SB 2655 introduced by Sen. Joey Fillingane (R) on January 17, 2022. Died in committee February 1.

MISSOURI* (Session dates: 01/05/2022 - 05/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 1612/HB 2028	Would abolish the death penalty and resentence death-row prisoners to life without parole.	HB 1612 prefiled December 1, 2021 by Rep. Tony Lovasco (R). HB 2028 prefiled December 20, 2021 by Rep. Sarah Unsicker (D).

NEW YORK (Session dates: 01/06/2021 - 01/01/2023)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
AB 3741	Would reinstate the death penalty	Sponsored by Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R). Referred to Codes on January 28, 2021

NORTH CAROLINA* (Session dates: 1/13/2021 - 06/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 724	Would abolish the death penalty	Introduced April 21, 2021 by four Democratic sponsors.

OHIO* (Session dates: 01/04/2021 - 12/31/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 103/HB 183	Would abolish the death penalty	SB 103 introduced March 2, 2021 by Sens. Nickie Antonio (D) and Stephen Huffman (R) and referred to Judiciary Committee. HB 183 introduced March 4, 2021 by Reps. Jean Schmidt (R) and Adam Miller (D) and referred to Government Oversight Committee. Re-referred to Criminal Justice Committee on April 15. Four hearings were held in the Criminal Justice Committee throughout 2021.
HB 586	Would allow consideration of DNA testing, regardless of who requested the testing. Intended to close a legal loophole that allows prisoners to remain incarcerated, despite DNA evidence of their innocence, because the testing was requested by someone other than the prisoner.	Introduced by Reps. Jean Schmidt (R) and Terrence Upchurch (D) on March 1, 2022.

OKLAHOMA (Session dates: 02/01/2021 - 05/29/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 1551	Would create a Conviction Integrity Review Unit within the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole to review capital cases in which the defendant has presented a plausible claim of actual innocence (Bill substituted)	Conviction Integrity Review Unit bill substituted for prior version of HB 1551 and approved by the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee on March 9, 2021. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin McDugle (R) and Sen. Shane Jett (R).
HB 2219	Would require all Oklahoma district attorney’s offices and the Office of the Attorney General to allow open-file discovery at all stages of a capital case	First reading February 1, 2021, referred to House Judiciary Committee. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin McDugle (R) and Sen. Shane Jett (R).
HB 2220	Would create a Prosecutorial Disclosure Review Panel to review prosecution files and prosecutor conduct in death penalty cases	First reading February 1, 2021, referred to House Judiciary Committee. Sponsored by Rep. Kevin McDugle (R) and Sen. Shane Jett (R).
HB 3903	Would restrict the powers of the pardon and parole board, including 1) prohibiting the pardon and parole board from recommending commutation hearings to the Governor for anyone sentenced to death or life without parole, 2) prevent the parole board from hearing cases based on actual innocence claims, and 3) limit parole board clemency recommendations in death cases to life without parole	First reading February 7, 2022, referred to Judiciary Committee. Sponsored by Rep. John Pfeiffer (R).

PENNSYLVANIA* (Session dates: 01/05/2021 - 11/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 499/HB 999	Would abolish the death penalty	SB 499 sponsored by Sen. Katie J. Muth (D) and referred to Judiciary Committee on July 26, 2021. HB 999 sponsored by Rep. Christopher M. Rabb (D) and referred to Judiciary Committee on April 1, 2021.

SOUTH CAROLINA* (Session dates: 01/12/2021 - 06/15/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
S 52	Would abolish the death penalty	Prefiled by Sen. Gerald Malloy (D) and referred to Committee on Judiciary, December 9, 2020
S 200/H 3755	Would make electrocution the default method of execution, add firing squad as an option for the method of execution, and alter the process by which prisoners may elect lethal injection as their method of execution	H 3755 introduced by 29 sponsors and referred to Committee on Judiciary, January 27, 2021. PASSED committee by a 14-7 vote on February 23. S 200 prefiled by six Republican sponsors and referred to Committee on Corrections and Penology, December 9, 2020. PASSED committee by 11-6 vote on February 2. PASSED the full Senate by a vote of 32–11 on March 3. PASSED the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 13-9 on April 27. PASSED the House by a vote of 66-43 on May 5. SIGNED by the governor on May 14.

SOUTH DAKOTA (Session dates: 01/11/2022 - 03/28/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 159	Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness	Introduced by Sen. Timothy Johns (R) and Rep. Aaron Aylward (R) on January 27, 2022. Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee. PASSED the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 6-1 vote on Feb. 15. PASSED the Senate by a 21-14 vote on Feb. 22. Referred to House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 24. Amended by the House Judiciary Committee and PASSED by a vote of 8-3 on March 2. FAILED on a vote of 25-43 in the full House.

TENNESSEE (Session dates: 01/12/2021 - 05/07/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 1/SB 1236	Would allow a defendant who has been sentenced to the death penalty and whose conviction is final to petition the trial court for a determination of whether the defendant is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability. Defines intellectual disability as “significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, including many everyday social and practical skills; and … [t]hat originated prior to the person’s eighteenth birthday.”	HB 1 filed for introduction by Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D) on November 4, 2020 and introduced on January 12, 2021. Referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee on January 13 and assigned to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee January 27. SB 1236 filed for introduction Sen. Brenda Gilmore (D) and introduced on February 11, 2021. Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee February 22.
HB 1062/SB 1349	Would allow a defendant who has previously been sentenced to death penalty and whose conviction is final to petition the trial court for a determination of whether the defendant ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability. Would conform the definition of intellectual disability to the diagnostic criteria contained “in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association.”	House bill 1062 filed for introduction by Rep. David Hawk (R) on February 10, 2021, introduced February 11, and referred to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the House Criminal Justice Committee on February 22. Recommended for passage by a voice vote of the subcommittee on April 7. PASSED the Criminal Justice Committee by a voice vote on April 14. PASSED the House by a vote of 89-4 on April 26. PASSED the Senate by a vote of 28-1 on April 26. Transmitted to the governor on May 4. SIGNED by the governor on May 11. Senate bill 1349 filed for introduction by Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R) and introduced February 11, 2021 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 22. Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee calendar by a vote of 7-1 on April 14 [Note, legislative website erroneously says 4/13.]
HB 47/SB 226	Would make a defendant convicted of first degree murder eligible for the death penalty if the victim was a Good Samaritan helping, protecting, or providing emergency care to a person and the defendant knew the victim was acting as a Good Samaritan.	House bill filed for introduction by Rep. Brandon Ogles (R) on December 16, 2020, introduced January 12, 2021, and referred to House Criminal Justice Committee on January 13. Assigned to Criminal Justice Subcommittee January 27 and recommended for passage February 24. Recommended for passage by the Criminal Justice Committee on March 3. PASSED the House by a vote of 84-0 on March 15. Senate bill filed by Sen. Joey Hensley (R) on January 19, 2021 and referred to Senate Judiciary Committee on February 10. Recommended for passage by the committee by a vote of 7-2 on March 30. The Senate moved to substitute SB 226 with HB 47 and PASSED the House bill by a vote of 26-6 on April 8. SIGNED by the governor on April 22.
SB 2310/HB 2809	Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness	Senate bill introduced by Senator Brenda Gilmore (D) on February 1, 2022. House bill introduced by Rep. G.A. Hardaway (D) on February 2, 2022.

UTAH* (Session dates: 01/18/2022 - 03/04/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 147	Would abolish the death penalty and add a sentencing option of 45 years to life for aggravated murder	Introduced on January 18, 2022 by Rep. V. Lowry Snow (R) and Sen. Daniel McCay (R). FAILED in House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Feb. 14 by a 5-6 vote.

VIRGINIA (Session dates: 01/12/2022 - 03/08/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HB 661/SB 379	Would reinstate the death penalty for murder of a police officer	HB 661 prefiled by Del. William Wampler (R) on January 11, 2022. SB 379 prefiled by Sen. Bill DeSteph (R) on January 11, 2022. Senate Judiciary Committee passed by indefinitely on February 7 by a 9-6 vote. “Passed by indefinitely” means the committee can reconsider the bill at a later meeting, but if it takes no further action, the bill is dead. Both bills FAILED in committee.

WASHINGTON* (Session dates: 01/11/2021 - 04/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SB 5047	Would remove the death penalty from Washington’s laws, bringing it in line with the 2018 Washington Supreme Court ruling striking down the death penalty.	Prefiled December 31, 2020 by 16 sponsors. First reading January 11, 2021, referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
SB 5099	Would reinstate the death penalty for people who commit murder while incarcerated.	Prefiled January 7, 2021 by Sen. Keith Wagoner (R) and Sen. Jeff Holy (R). First reading January 11, 2021, referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

WYOMING* (Session dates: 01/12/2021 - 04/02/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
SF 150	Would repeal Wyoming’s death penalty.	Introduced March 1, 2021 by 13 bipartisan sponsors. Referred to Senate Revenue Committee. Hearing scheduled for March 4. PASSED Committee by a 4-1 vote on March 4. FAILED in the Senate by a 11-19 vote on March 18.

U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT* (Session dates: 01/03/2021 - 10/30/2022)
Bill number	Bill Description	Status
HR 72	Would provide additional aggravating factors for the imposition of the federal death penalty	Introduced January 4, 2021 by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R -FL)
HR 97/HR 262	Would abolish the federal death penalty	Introduced January 4, 2021. HR 97 sponsored by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D - NY). HR 262 sponsored by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D - MA).

Feb 05, 2021

Virginia Legislature Votes to Abolish the Death Penalty

With two historic votes, the Virginia General Assembly has moved the commonwealth to the cusp of becoming the first Southern state to abolish capital punishment, approving separate bills that would end the state’s death penalty an…

News & Developments

Recent Legislative Activity

Jun 28, 2022

Mississippi Gives Department of Corrections Unprecedented Discretion Over Execution Methods

Mississippi corrections officials will have unprecedented discretion in selecting how the state’s death-row prisoners will be executed under a new law that takes effect July 1, 2022. Mississippi authorizes execution by le…

Mental Illness

Apr 14, 2022

Kentucky Becomes Second State to Bar Imposing Death Penalty on Those Diagnosed as Seriously Mentally Ill

Kentucky has become the second state in the U.S. to bar imposing the death penalty on those diagnosed as seriously mentally ill. On April 8, 2022, Governor Andy Beshear (pictured) signed

Race

Mar 31, 2022

More Than a Century After it Was First Proposed, President Biden Signs Historic Law Making Lynching a Federal Crime

After more than a century of efforts by civil rights leaders to make lynching a federal crime, President Joe Biden on March 29, 2022 signed into law historic anti-lynching legislation. Flanked by the bill’s sponsors,

Recent Legislative Activity

Mar 30, 2022

Idaho Expands Execution Secrecy After Senate Committee Reconsiders Failed Vote

Idaho Governor Brad Little on March 25, 2022, signed into law an execution secrecy bill that conceals from the public and the courts information on the producers and suppliers of drugs used in executions in the state. Hou…

Mental Illness

Mar 29, 2022

Kentucky Legislature Passes Bill Prohibiting Death Penalty for People with Serious Mental Illness

The Kentucky State Senate has given final legislative approval to a bill that would make the Commonwealth the second U.S. state to bar the execution of people with serious mental illness. On March 25, 2022, the Republican…

Recent Legislative Activity

Mar 11, 2022

Execution Secrecy Bill Passes in Florida, Fails in Idaho

Bills to increase secrecy in the conduct of executions have met different fates in Florida and Idaho. Florida legislators on March 7, 2022 gave final legislative approval to a bill that would conceal the identity …

Deterrence

Feb 24, 2022

Despite Ineffectiveness as Public-Safety Tool, Anti-Abolition Lawmakers Push Bills to Reinstate Death Penalty for Killings of Police Officers

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Mental Illness

Feb 23, 2022

Kentucky and South Dakota Advance Bills to Bar Death Penalty for People with Severe Mental Illness

Bills that would exempt individuals with severe mental illness from the death penalty have taken major steps forward in the Kentucky and South Dakota legislatures. The Kentucky House of Representatives voted overw…

Recent Legislative Activity

Feb 17, 2022

Effort to Repeal and Replace Utah’s Death Penalty Fails on 6 – 5 Vote in State House Committee

A high-profile Republican-led effort to abolish the death penalty in Utah has failed in committee by a single vote. State representatives in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted 6 – 5 on February 14, 2022 n…

Recent Legislative Activity

Jan 19, 2022

Republican Legislators Introduce Bill to Repeal and Replace Utah’s Death Penalty

Two conservative Republican legislators, both former supporters of capital punishment, have introduced legislation that would end death-penalty prosecutions in Utah. On January 18, 2022, the first day of the three-month 2…