---
title: 'NEW RESOURCES: State Graphs Showing the Decline in Death Sentences'
description: 'Since the 1990s, almost every death penalty state has experienced a dramatic decline in its annual number of death sentences. DPIC has prepared a series…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-resources-state-graphs-showing-the-decline-in-death-sentences'
section: news
date: '2013-04-02T18:14:50-04:00'
updated: '2025-03-14T14:34:46-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

! Since the 1990s, almost every death penalty state has experienced a dramatic decline in its annual number of death sentences. DPIC has prepared a series of graphs illustrating this trend in each state: [**State Death Sentences by Year**](/state-death-sentences-year). This page contains graphs showing the annual number of new sentences in each state between 1994 and 2012. These same graphs can be found individually on each state's [**State Information**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state) page. Nationally, there was a **75% decrease** in new death sentences between 1994 and 2012. Using the same years of comparison, death sentences in **Texas** and **Virginia** (the two leading states in executions since 1976) have shown a similar decline. Between 1994 and 2012, Texas death sentences declined by 79%; Virginia death sentences dropped to 0 in 2012, a 100% decline from 1994, when there were 10. In the same time period, **Alabama** sentences dropped 75%, **Florida**-44%, **Oklahoma**-92%, and **California**-41%.

([**State Death Sentences by Year**](/state-death-sentences-year), DPIC posted, April 2, 2013). See [**Sentencing**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/data/sentencing-data) and [**States**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state). Read more about the latest death penalty trends in DPIC's [**2012 Year End Report**](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/year-end-reports/the-death-penalty-in-2012-year-end-report).