2021 — Proposed legislation
States with bills to abolish death penalty indicated with *
Session dates via StateScape
| ALABAMA* (Session dates: 02/02/2021 — 05/31/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 544 | Would repeal the death penalty | Read for the first time on March 16, 2021 and referred to Committee on Judiciary |
| ARKANSAS (Session dates: 01/11/2021 — 04/24/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 28 | Would make rape of a child a capital offense | Filed December 31, 2020, referred to Judiciary Committee. WITHDRAWN by the author, March 17, 2021. |
| SB 29 | Would make trafficking of fentanyl a capital offense | Filed December 31, 2020, referred to Judiciary Committee. |
| SB 284 | Would create the crime of “capital rape,” making the rape of someone under age 14 punishable by death. This law would violate the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 decision Kennedy v. Louisiana, which barred the death penalty for crimes against an individual in which the victim did not die. | Filed February 3, 2021, referred to Judiciary Committee. |
| HB 1731 | Would amend sentencing procedure in the case of a mistrial in the sentencing phase of a capital trial to allow the prosecutor to request that the judge impose a sentence of life without parole or impanel a new sentencing jury. | Filed March 15, 2021. PASSED the House by a vote of 96 – 0, with 4 abstentions, on March 23. PASSED the Senate by a vote of 34 – 0 on April 8. SIGNED by the governor on April 13 |
| ARIZONA* (Session dates: 01/11/2021 — 05/28/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 1548 | Would change capital sentencing law to state that a trier of fact “may” impose a death sentence if they find aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, instead of saying they “shall” impose a death sentence | Introduced February 1, 2021. Referred to Rules and Judiciary Committees. |
| SB 1695/HCR 2039 | Would repeal the death penalty | SB 1695 introduced February 3, 2021. Referred to Rules and Judiciary Committees. HCR 2039 introduced February 9, 2021 and referred to Judiciary and Rules Committees. |
| SB 1696 | Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with serious mental illness | Introduced February 1, 2021. Referred to Rules and Judiciary Committees. |
| 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. |
| 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. 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. 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. 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. |
| CONNECTICUT (Session dates: 01/06/2021 — 06/03/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 5370/SB 322 | Would reinstate the death penalty. | Referred to Joint Committee on Judiciary. |
| FLORIDA* (Session dates: 01/04/2021 — 04/23/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 568/HB 6019 | Would abolish the death penalty. | SB 568 filed January 12, 2021 and referred to Committees on Criminal Justice, Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice, and Appropriations. HB 6019 filed January 11, 2021 and referred to Judiciary Committee, Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee and Justice Appropriations Subcommittee. Both bills DIED in committee. |
| SB 1156 | Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness | Filed February 9, 2021. Referred to the Senate Criminal Justice, Judiciary, and Rules Committees. PASSED the Senate Criminal Justice Committee by a vote of 8 – 0 on March 30 and moved to the Senate Judiciary Committee. DIED in Judiciary Committee on April 30. |
| 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. |
| 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, referred to Rules Committee. SB 614 filed February 24, 2021, referred to Assignments Committee. SB 2219 filed February 26, 2021, referred to Assignments Committee. |
| INDIANA (Session dates: 01/04/2021 — 04/23/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 1165 | Would make murder committed by a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the officer’s duty an aggravating circumstance permitting imposition of the death penalty. | First reading and referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code, January 7, 2021 |
| SB 252 | Would provide that a person may not be sentenced to death unless: (1) the victim is a specified public safety officer and certain other circumstances apply; or (2) the person commits murder against two or more victims, and would reduce death sentences to life without parole for those sentenced to death for other crimes | First reading and referred to Committee on Judiciary, January 11, 2021. PASSED committee by a vote of 8 – 0 on February 4. PASSED the Senate by a vote of 46 – 1 on February 9, referred to House. |
| 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 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 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 and referred to Judiciary Committee |
| HB 2300 | Would abolish the death penalty for crimes committed after July 1, 2021 | Introduced February 9, 2021 and referred to Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice |
| KENTUCKY* (Session dates: 01/05/2021 — 03/31/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 60 | Would abolish the death penalty and resentence current death-row prisoners to life without parole | Introduced January 5, 2021 |
| HB 148 | Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with serious mental illness | Introduced January 5, 2021. PASSED the House by a vote of 75 – 16 on March 1. Reported favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 4. |
| MISSOURI* (Session dates: 01/06/2021 — 05/30/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 50/HB 127 | Would abolish the death penalty and resentence death-row prisoners to life without parole. | Prefiled December 1, 2020 |
| HB 157 | Would create the Change of Venue for Capital Cases Fund to reimburse a county that receives a capital case from another county for costs associated with the sequestering of jurors | Prefiled December 1, 2020. PASSED House Judiciary Committee 10 – 1 on February 11. PASSED House Rules Committee 12 – 0 on April 13. |
| HB 278 | Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with serious mental illness | Prefiled December 1, 2020. Read first time January 6, 2021. |
| HB 462 | Would require that a life sentence be imposed if the sentencing jury does not unanimously agree to a death sentence, repealing a provision that treated a non-unanimous vote as a hung jury and allowed the trial judge to determine the sentence. | Prefiled December 14, 2021. Read first time January 6, 2021. Referred to Special Committee on Criminal Justice. |
| HB 676 | Would modify the aggravating factors that make a crime death eligible to add the phrase “regardless of whether the victim was previously identified” to the aggravator “The murder in the first degree offense was committed while the offender was engaged in the commission or attempted commission of another unlawful homicide” | Prefiled January 5, 2021. Referred to Judiciary Committee. PASSED Judiciary Committee by a vote of 11 – 1 on March 4. Referred to the Consent and House Procedure Committee. PASSED Consent and House Procedure Committee by a 9 – 0 vote on March 9. PASSED the House 144 – 0 on March 31, referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence. PASSED Committee on May 13. |
| HB 1201 | Would require judges to impose a sentence of life without parole if the jury does not unanimously vote for death. | Introduced February 19, 2021. |
| MONTANA* (Session dates: 01/04/2021 — 04/28/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 244 | Would change the lethal-injection law to allow execution by “an intravenous substance…sufficient to cause death.” Under current law, Montana may only use an ultra-fast-acting barbiturate in combination with a paralytic | Introduced January 26, 2021, referred to Judiciary Committee. Hearing was held February 3. passed the Judiciary Committee February 12 by a vote of 11 – 8. Passed the full House on second reading February 16 by a vote of 56 – 44 and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee conducted a hearing on February 17 and passed the bill by a vote of 17 – 7 on February 24. The bill received FINAL PASSAGE in the House on February 25 by a 56 – 42 vote. Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 26, which conducted a hearing on March 30 and voted 6 – 5 on April 1 to pass the bill. The bill was DEFEATED on second reading before the full Senate by.a vote of 24 – 26 on April 15 and further consideration was indefinitely postponed by a vote of 30 – 20, effectively killing the bill. |
| HB 335 | Would abolish the death penalty and replace it with life without possibility of parole | Introduced February 8, 2021. Referred to Judiciary Committee February 9. Hearing was held February 23 and the bill was TABLED by a vote of 11 – 8. |
| NEVADA* (Session dates: 02/01/2021 — 06/01/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 228/AB 395 | Would abolish the death penalty | SB 228 introduced on March 15, 2021 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. AB 395 read first time on March 24, 2021 and referred to Committee on Judiciary. Judiciary Committee recommended passage on April 9. PASSED the Assembly by a vote of 26 – 16 on April 13. No action was taken in the Senate Judiciary Committee before the deadline, killing the bill. |
| NEW YORK (Session dates: 01/06/2021 — 01/01/2023) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| AB 3741 | Would reinstate the death penalty | Referred to Codes on January 28, 2021 |
| 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 and referred to Judiciary Committee. HB 183 introduced March 4, 2021 and referred to Government Oversight Committee. Re-referred to Criminal Justice Committee on April 15. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| SOUTH CAROLINA* (Session dates: 01/12/2021 — 06/15/2022) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| S 52 | Would abolish the death penalty | Prefiled 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 and referred to Committee on Judiciary, January 27, 2021. PASSED committee by a 14 – 7 vote on February 23. S 200 prefiled 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: 01/12/2021 — 03/29/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| SB 98 | Would restrict the death penalty to first-degree murder of a police officer, corrections officer, or firefighter | First read and referred to Judiciary Committee, January 25, 2021. PASSED the Judiciary Committee 5 – 1 on February 4. FAILED in the Senate by a 13 – 20 vote on February 8. |
| TENNESSEE (Session dates: 01/12/2021 — 05/07/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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.” | Filed for introduction 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. Filed for introduction 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 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 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 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 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. |
| TEXAS* (Session dates: 01/12/2021 — 05/28/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 77 | Would disallow the death penalty in cases relying only on the testimony of a single eyewitness | Filed November 9, 2020. Reported favorably from Criminal Jurisprudence Committee by an 8 – 1 vote on April 29. |
| HB 140 | Would prohibit the death penalty for defendants with serious mental illness | Filed November 9, 2020. PASSED the House by a 108 – 35 vote on May 14. |
| HB 215/HB 354/SB 188 | Would abolish the death penalty | House bills filed November 9, 2020, Senate bill filed November 13, 2020. |
| HB 252/SB 189 | Would require jury unanimity in certain sentencing decisions that currently only require agreement among 10 jurors | House bill filed November 9, 2020, Senate bill filed November 13, 2020. HB 252 PASSED the House by a vote of 148 – 0 on April 22. |
| HB 679 | Would alter the standards for counsel in capital cases | Filed November 30, 2020. PASSED the House by a vote of 126 – 20 on May 6. |
| HB 838/HB 1340 | Would repeal Texas’ “law of parties” in capital cases, removing death eligibility for minor participants in capital crimes | HB 838 filed December 15, 2020, referred to Criminal Jurisprudence committee. HB 1340 filed January 25, 2021, referred to Criminal Jurisprudence committee. PASSED the House by a vote of 139 – 4 on May 4. |
| HB 841/SB 685 | Would allow clemency hearings to be conducted by telephone or videoconference | Filed December 15, 2020 |
| HB 869/SB 80 | Would update the procedure for determining intellectual disability in capital cases | Filed December 17, 2020. HB 869 reported favorably from committee by a 8 – 0 vote on May 3. |
| HB 380 | Would add a new aggravating circumstance making a crime eligible for the death penalty: if the victim was murdered in retaliation for their work as a prosecuting attorney or an assistant prosecuting attorney | Filed November 9, 2020, referred to Criminal Jurisprudence committee |
| HB 688 | Would make the “law of parties” inapplicable to capital prosecutions | Filed December 1, 2020, referred to Criminal Jurisprudence committee. Public hearing scheduled April 6, 2021. Reported favorably from committee by a 7 – 1 vote on April 16. |
| HB 1355/SB 831/HB 3194 | Would allow a prisoner’s spiritual advisor to accompany them in the execution chamber | HB 1355 filed January 26, 2021, referred to Corrections committee. SB 831 filed February 26, referred to Criminal Justice committee. HB 3194 filed March 8, referred to Corrections committee. |
| HB 2386 | Would make the identity of lethal-injection drug suppliers public information | Filed February 26, 2021, referred to Corrections committee. Public hearing held March 24. Left pending in committee. |
| HB 4271 | Would ban law school clinics from representing death-row prisoners on appeal | Filed March 12, 2021, referred to Higher Education committee. |
| HB 4308/SB 2034 | Would create a process for capital defendants or death-row prisoners to bring claims of racial bias pretrial or on appeal | Filed March 12, 2021, referred to Criminal Jurisprudence committee. |
| SB 2113 | Would permit the views of the victims’ family members to be considered in the sentencing phase of a capital trial, whether they support the death penalty or life without parole | Filed March 12, 2021, referred to Criminal Justice committee. |
| VIRGINIA* (Session dates: 01/13/2021 — 02/13/2021) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bill number | Bill Description | Status |
| HB 1779/SB 1165/HB 2263 | Would abolish the death penalty and resentence current death-row prisoners to life without parole | House bill 1779 prefiled and referred to Committee for Courts of Justice, December 29, 2020. House bill 2263 introduced January 13, 2021. HB 1779 was incorporated into HB 2263. Subcommittee on Criminal Courts recommended reporting by a 6 – 2 vote on January 29, 2021. PASSED Committee on Courts of Justice by a 15 – 6 vote on February 3. PASSED the House by a vote of 57 – 41 on February 5. Senate bill 1165 prefiled and referred to Committee on the Judiciary, January 8, 2021. PASSED the Committee on the Judiciary on January 18 by a 10 – 4 vote. Rereferred to the Committee on Finance and Appropriations. PASSED the Committee on Finance and Appropriations by a 12 – 4 vote on January 26. PASSED the Senate by a vote of 21 – 17 on February 3. The Senate PASSED the House bill by a 22 – 16 vote and the House PASSED the Senate bill by a 57 – 43 vote on February 22. SIGNED into law by Governor Ralph Northam on March 24. |
| 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. 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. 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. 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 |
| HR 97/HR 262 | Would abolish the federal death penalty | Introduced January 4, 2021 |