---
title: Wyoming
description: '1871 - John Boyer becomes the first man to be legally executed in Wyoming and is publicly hanged in front of a Wyoming jail. 1977 - Wyoming reinstates…'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/wyoming'
section: statePages
date: '2017-11-22T18:45:37-05:00'
updated: '2026-10-02T19:33:01-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

!  

Timeline
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1871 - John Boyer becomes the first man to be legally executed in Wyoming and is publicly hanged in front of a Wyoming jail.

1977 - Wyoming reinstates the death penalty following *Furman v. Georgia.*

1992 - Wyoming carries out most recent execution, executing Mark Hopkinson by lethal injection.

2001 - Governor Jim Geringer signs a law to add the sentencing option of life without parole as an alternative penalty for defendants convicted of first-degree murder.

2004 - The Wyoming Legislature passes a bill banning the death penalty for juveniles, making Wyoming one of the last states to do so before the Supreme Court banned the practice in *Roper v. Simmons.*

2014 - Dale Wayne Eaton becomes the last person to be removed from Wyoming's death row when his death sentence is overturned.

2019 - A bipartisan coalition of legislators introduces a bill to abolish Wyoming's death penalty.

2020 - Governor Mark Gordon informs legislators that he is "very seriously" considering imposing a moratorium on the state's death penalty.

2021 - A Wyoming senate committee advances a bill to repeal the state's death penalty to the full Senate. The state senate defeats the bill by a 4-1 vote.

**Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement**
-----------------------------------------

Wyoming was one of the last states to ban the execution of juvenile offenders before the Supreme Court banned the practice in *Roper v. Simmons*. The state legislature passed a bill banning the death penalty for juveniles in 2004.

**Other Interesting Facts**
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The last execution in Wyoming was that of **Mark Hopkinson** in 1992. The death sentence of the last person on Wyoming's death row, **Dale Wayne Eaton**, was overturned on November 20, 2014. Wyoming prosecutors waived the death penalty in the case on September 27, 2021.

  ! Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Arad Mojtahedi.

  **Resources**
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- [Department of Corrections](http://corrections.wy.gov/)
- [Public defender's office](http://wyodefender.state.wy.us/)
- [ACLU of Wyoming](https://www.aclu-wy.org/)
- [Victims' services](http://ag.wyo.gov/victim-services-home-page)

  ! Wyoming Execution Totals Since 1976
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