# | State | Year | Notes | Source |
1 | Alabama | 1981 | Code of Alabama | |
2 | Alaska* | No LWOP | Prison Legal News | |
3 | Arizona | 1993 | Arizona Legislature | |
4 | Arkansas | 1976 | Arkansas Code of 1987 | |
5 | California | 1976 | 1976 - Year added to statute; 1978 - Year LWOP Sentencing went into effect | California State Library and Real Cost of Prison |
6 | Colorado | 2002 | Colorado Revised Statutes | |
7 | Connecticut | 1985 | Connecticut Penal Code | |
8 | Delaware | 2003 | Delaware Title 11 | |
9 | District of Columbia* | 1981 | District of Columbia Code | |
10 | Florida | 1994 | General Acts, Resolutions and Memorials Adopted by the Thirteenth Legislature of Florida, pp. 1576-77 | |
11 | Georgia | 1993 | Harvard Law Review | |
12 | Hawaii* | 1976 | Hawaii Supreme Court | |
13 | Idaho | 2004 | University of San Francisco | |
14 | Illinois | 1978 | The Sentencing Project | |
15 | Indiana | 1994 | National Institute of Justice | |
16 | Iowa* | 1997 | Iowans Against the Death Penalty | |
17 | Kansas | 2004 | Harvard Law Review | |
18 | Kentucky | 1998 | Kentucky Legislative Research Commission | |
19 | Louisiana | 1994 | National Institute of Justice | |
20 | Maine* | 1841 | LWOP not explicitly in statute, but exists in practice | Maine Legislative Reference Library |
21 | Maryland* | 1987 | The British Journal of Criminology | |
22 | Massachusetts* | 1955 | Massachusetts Legislative Directory | |
23 | Michigan* | 1953 | Michigan Corrections Code of 1953 | |
24 | Minnesota* | 1992 | Minnesota Revisor of Statutes | |
25 | Mississippi | 1880 | Mississippi Code of 1880 – Section 2877 | |
26 | Missouri | 1984 | Missouri Revised Statutes | |
27 | Montana | 1995 | National Institute of Justice | |
28 | Nebraska | 2002 | Added to statute in 2002 by state legislature, and ruled unconstitutional by state Supreme Court in 2010. LWOP still exists in reality though not titled as LWOP any longer | Nebraska Revised Statutes |
29 | Nevada | 1967 | Nevada Legislative Council | |
30 | New Hampshire | 1974 | New Hampshire Legislature | |
31 | New Jersey* | 1995 | National Institute of Justice | |
32 | New Mexico* | 1997 | 1997- LWOP added to statute for 2-time sex offenders; 2009- Death penalty abolished and replaced with LWOP | CNN |
33 | New York* | 1995 | Bronx District Attorney | |
34 | North Carolina | 1994 | National Institute of Justice | |
35 | North Dakota* | 1997 | North Dakota Legislature | |
36 | Ohio | 1995 | Ohio Catholic Conference | |
37 | Oklahoma | 1988 | Harvard Law Review | |
38 | Oregon | 1984 | Oregon Department of Corrections | |
39 | Pennsylvania | 1941 | The Sentencing Project | |
40 | Rhode Island* | 1979 | America Without the Death Penalty, pg. 223 | |
41 | South Carolina | 1995 | National Institute of Justice | |
42 | South Dakota | 1978 | South Dakota Legislature | |
43 | Tennessee | 1995 | National Institute of Justice | |
44 | Texas | 2005 | Texas Legislature | |
45 | Utah | 1992 | Harvard Law Review | |
46 | Vermont* | 1987 | Vermont Legislative Council | |
47 | Virginia | 1994 | 1994- LWOP added for 3 strikes legislation; 1995- added as an alternative to the death penalty | Truth in Justice and National Institute of Justice |
48 | Washington* | 1993 | National Institute of Justice | |
49 | West Virginia* | 1965 | America Without the Death Penalty, pg. 193 | |
50 | Wisconsin* | 1994 | National Institute of Justice | |
51 | Wyoming | 1982 | Wyoming Statutes |
*Indicates states with no death penalty.
The federal death penalty statute was reinstated in 1988 and contained a LWOP sentencing alternative. The list of death-eligible crimes was expanded in 1994, also with LWOP alternatives.
The U.S. Military added a LWOP alternative to its death penalty statute for crimes committed on or after Nov. 17, 1997.
Note: Dates may vary according to different legal resources. This
variance occurs because of different interpretations of life without
parole laws. Some states have had laws that have effectively served as
LWOP statutes without being titled so, while other states have had more
explicit start dates for the sentencing option.
Research and compilation by Thomas Davidson, DPIC, pub. Aug. 2, 2010.