News

Jurisdictions with no recent executions

By Death Penalty Information Center

Posted on Jan 05, 2011 | Updated on Mar 14, 2025

States No Exec5 2018 oct

The entry below is a news item from 2011 that is not actively updated. For an updated list of jurisdictions with no recent executions, please click here.

Although the United States is con­sid­ered a death penal­ty coun­try, exe­cu­tions are rare or non-exis­tent in most of the nation: the major­i­ty of states—31 out of 50—have either abol­ished the death penal­ty or have not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion in at least 10 years. An addi­tion­al 6 states have not had an exe­cu­tion in at least 5 years, for a total of 37 states with no exe­cu­tions in that time. Three addi­tion­al juris­dic­tions (the District of Columbia, the Federal Government, and the Military) have not had an exe­cu­tion in at least 10 years.

The tables below list the juris­dic­tions with no exe­cu­tions in many years (updat­ed July 1, 2019):

31 states, plus 3 jurisdictions (District of Columbia, Federal Government, and Military), with no death penalty or no executions in at least 10 years
Jurisdictions with no death penalty Last Execution
1. Alaska Before 1976
2. Connecticut (1) May 13, 2005
3. Delaware (16) April 20, 2012
4. Hawaii Before 1976
5. Illinois (12) March 17, 1999
6. Iowa Before 1976
7. Maine Before 1976
8. Maryland (5) December 5, 2005
9. Massachusetts Before 1976
10. Michigan Before 1976
11. Minnesota Before 1976
12. New Hampshire*Before 1976
13. New Jersey Before 1976
14. New Mexico (1) November 6, 2001
15. New York Before 1976
16. North Dakota Before 1976
17. Rhode Island Before 1976
18. Vermont Before 1976
19. Washington (5) Sept. 10, 2010
20. West Virginia Before 1976
21. Wisconsin Before 1976
22. District of Columbia Before 1976
Jurisdictions with the death penalty Last Execution
23. California (13) January 17, 2006
24. Colorado (1) October 13, 1997
25. Kansas (0) Before 1976
26. Kentucky (3) November 21, 2008
27. Montana (3) August 11, 2006
28. Nevada (12) April 26, 2006
29. North Carolina (43) August 18, 2006
30. Oregon (2) May 16, 1997
31. Pennsylvania (3) July 6, 1999
32. Wyoming (1) January 22, 1992
33. U.S. Federal Government (3) March 18, 2003
34. U.S. Military (0) Before 1976

37 states, plus 3 jurisdictions, with no death penalty or no executions in at least 5 years
Jurisdictions with no death penalty Last Execution
1. Alaska Before 1976
2. Connecticut (1) May 13, 2005
3. Delaware (16) April 20, 2012
4. Hawaii Before 1976
5. Illinois (12) March 17, 1999
6. Iowa Before 1976
7. Maine Before 1976
8. Maryland (5) December 5, 2005
9. Massachusetts Before 1976
10. Michigan Before 1976
11. Minnesota Before 1976
12. New Hampshire*Before 1976
13. New Jersey Before 1976
14. New Mexico (1) November 6, 2001
15. New York Before 1976
16. North Dakota Before 1976
17. Rhode Island Before 1976
18. Vermont Before 1976
19. Washington (5) Sept. 10, 2010
20. West Virginia Before 1976
21. Wisconsin Before 1976
22. District of Columbia Before 1976
Jurisdictions with the death penalty Last Execution
23. California (13) January 17, 2006
24. Colorado (1) October 13, 1997
25. Idaho (3) June 12, 2012
26. Indiana (20) December 11, 2009
27. Kansas (0) Before 1976
28. Kentucky (3) November 21, 2008
29. Louisiana (28) Jan. 7, 2010
30. Montana (3) August 11, 2006
31. Mississippi (21) June 20, 2012
32. Nevada (12) April 26, 2006
33. North Carolina (43) August 18, 2006
34. Oregon (2) May 16, 1997
35. Pennsylvania (3) July 6, 1999
36. South Carolina (43) May 6, 2011
37. Utah (7) June 18, 2010
38. Wyoming (1) January 22, 1992
39. U.S. Federal Government (3) March 18, 2003
40. U.S. Military (0) Before 1976

Number in paren­the­ses indi­cates total exe­cu­tions since 1976.

* New Hampshire abol­ished the death penal­ty in May 2019 but still has one per­son on death row.

(DPIC, map as of October 29, 2018). See DPIC’s 2018 Year End Report. See also Executions and Executions by County.

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