The number of u.s. states with the death penalty has done what in recent years?

For more analysis, as well as illustrative charts and graphs, read TCADP’s report, Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2022: The Year in Review and check out our fact sheet on the death penalty in Texas, Facts about the Texas Death Penalty.

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How has the death penalty changed in the United States over the years?
How many times has the death penalty been used in the US?
Why does the US still use the death penalty?
Where is the death penalty used the most in the US?

Executions

The State of Texas has executed 578 people since 1982. Of these, 279 occurred during the administration of Texas Governor Rick Perry (2001-2014), more than any other governor in U.S. history.

The State of Texas executed five people in 2022. At this time, eight executions have been scheduled for 2023 (as of 12/16/22).

Harris County alone accounts for 131 executions, more than any state except Texas. Dallas County accounts for 61 executions, Bexar County for 46, and Tarrant County for 45.

Executions in Texas peaked in 2000, when 40 people were put to death.

Death Sentences

New death sentences in Texas have decreased 96 percent since peaking in 1999, when juries sentenced 48 people to death. Death sentences have remained in the single digits for the past eight years.

In 2022, Texas juries sentenced two people sentenced to death:

On October 26, 2022, a Harris County jury imposed the first new death sentence in Texas this year, recommending the death penalty for Robert Solis for killing Harris County Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal in 2019. Solis represented himself during the trial. He did not call any witnesses during the punishment phase, and the jury deliberated for only 35 minutes about whether to sentence him to death.
On November 9, 2022, a Bowie County jury sentenced Taylor Parker to death for killing Reagan Hancock and her unborn child, Braxlyn, in 2020. She is the first woman to be sentenced to death in the state since 2012 and is now the seventh woman on death row in Texas.

Texas has the third-largest death row population in the nation (192), after California* (674) and Florida (302).
*On March 13, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on executions.

Death Sentences by Race and Gender

According to TDCJ, Black individuals compromise 46.4%, Hispanic individuals compromise 26.0%, and white individuals compromise 25.0% of the current death row population.

Death Sentences by County

As displayed in this interactive map, just two counties (Harris and Smith) have imposed more than one death sentence in the five-year period of 2018 to 2022. One-third of all death sentences imposed by juries in the last five years came from those two counties.

Three counties account for more than half of the current death row population: Harris (72); Dallas (18); and Tarrant (12). No other county has more than eight individuals on death row at this time.

Less than 20% of the 254 counties in Texas account for the current population of death row.

Learn more about the death penalty at the county level here.

Wrongful Convictions and Executions

Since 1973, 190 individuals who spent time on death row have been exonerated, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. This includes 16 people convicted and sentenced to death in Texas.

There also is strong evidence that the State of Texas has executed innocent people, including Carlos DeLuna, Ruben Cantu, Cameron Todd Willingham, Gary Graham (Shaka Sankofa), and most recently, Larry Swearingen, who was put to death in August 2019.

Learn more about wrongful executions in Texas at TCADP’s Wrongful Execution page and DPIC Special Report: The Innocence Epidemic.

National and International Abolition

Eleven states – Colorado, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, Washington, Maryland, New Hampshire, and, most recently, Virginia – have abandoned the death penalty in recent years through legislative or judicial action. A total of 23 states and the District of Columbia do not allow the death penalty.

Governors in three other states (Oregon, Pennsylvania, and California) have imposed a moratorium on executions, bringing the total number of states that have either ended the death penalty or have a moratorium to 26.

144 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. According to Amnesty International, China, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria accounted for the most executions in 2021, though it remains difficult to obtain exact numbers in many of these countries.

How has the death penalty changed in the United States over the years?

The use of the death penalty has declined sharply in the United States over the past 25 years. New death sentences have fallen more than 85% since peaking at more than 300 death sentences per year in the mid 1990s.

How many times has the death penalty been used in the US?

1558 men and women have been executed in the United States since the 1970s, although executions have declined significantly over the past two decades. Most executions have been concentrated in a few states and a small number of outlier counties.

Why does the US still use the death penalty?

Elements of public support are used to justify continuing the death penalty. In the latest 2022 survey by global analytics firm Gallup, more than half of Americans say the death penalty is “morally acceptable”. The results from 2021 found slightly more than half saying they still support the death penalty.