U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Statistical Tables
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Capital Punishment, 2013 – Statistical Tables

Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician

At yearend 2013, 35 states and the Federal
Bureau of Prisons held 2,979 inmates under
sentence of death, which was 32 fewer than at
yearend 2012 (figure 1). This represents the thirteenth
consecutive year in which the number of inmates
under sentence of death decreased.

Five states (California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania,
and Alabama) held 60% of all inmates on death row
on December 31, 2013. The Federal Bureau of Prisons
held 56 inmates under sentence of death at yearend.
Of prisoners under sentence of death at yearend

2013, 56% were white and 42% were black. The 389
Hispanic inmates under sentence of death accounted
for 14% of inmates with a known ethnicity. Ninetyeight
percent of inmates under sentence of death
were male, and 2% were female. The race and sex
of inmates under sentence of death has remained
relatively stable since 2000.

Among inmates for whom legal status at the time of
the capital offense was available, 41% had an active
criminal justice status: 4 in 10 of these inmates were
on parole; nearly 3 in 10 were on probation; and
the remaining inmates had charges pending, were
incarcerated, had escaped from incarceration, or had
some other criminal justice status.

Criminal history patterns of death row inmates
differed by race and Hispanic origin. More black
inmates had a prior felony conviction (73%),
compared to Hispanic (65%) or white (64%) inmates.
Similar percentages of white (9%), black (10%),
and Hispanic (7%) inmates had a prior homicide
conviction. A slightly higher percentage of Hispanic
(32%) and black (31%) inmates were on probation or
parole at the time of their capital offense, compared to
24% of white inmates.

In 2013, 16 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons
reported that 83 inmates were received under sentence
of death. Admissions in California (25), Florida (15),
and Texas (9) accounted for 60% of those received under
sentence of death in 2013.

Twenty-two states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons
removed 115 inmates from under sentence of death: 39 were
executed, 31 died by means other than execution, and 45
were removed as a result of courts overturning sentences
or convictions. Removals in Texas (20) and Florida (19)
accounted for more than a third of all inmates removed from
under sentence of death in 2013.

Nine states executed 39 inmates in 2013; 43 inmates were
executed in 9 states in 2012. The inmates executed in 2013
had been under sentence of death an average of 15.5 years,
which was 4 months less than those executed in 2012.

Among the 36 jurisdictions with prisoners under sentence
of death on December 31, 2013, 6 jurisdictions had more
inmates than a year earlier, 16 had fewer inmates, and 14
had the same number. California showed the largest increase
(up 17 inmates). Texas had the largest decrease (down 11),
followed by Oklahoma (down 8), Georgia (down 7), and
Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee (down 4 each).

The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976
(see Gregg v. Georgia, 427 U.S. 153 (1976) and its companion
cases). From 1976 to 2000, the number of inmates under
sentence of death in the United States steadily increased until
it peaked at 3,601 inmates on December 31, 2000 (figure 2).
In 2001, the number of inmates removed from under
sentence of death was higher than the number admitted for
the first time since 1976 (figure 3). The number of annual
removals of those under sentence of death has exceeded the
number of admissions since 2001. The 83 inmates received
under sentence of death in 2013 was the same as the number
received in 2012. The number of inmates received in 2012
and 2013 represented the smallest number of admissions to
death row since 1973, when 44 persons were admitted.

Of the 8,124 people under sentence of death between 1977
and 2013, 17% had been executed, 6% died by causes other
than execution, and 40% received other dispositions.
 ***Footnote 1 Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1976 approval 
of revised statutes in some states (Gregg v. Georgia), executions 
of inmates resumed in 1977***.  The federal government began 
collecting annual execution statistics in 1930. Between 1930 
and 2013, a total of 5,218 inmates were executed under civil 
authority (figure 4). ***Footnote 2 Military authorities carried 
out an additional 160 executions between 1930 and 1961, which are 
not included in this report***.After the Supreme Court reinstated 
death penalty statutes in 1976, 35 states and the federal 
government executed 1,359 inmates.

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One state repealed its capital statute 
in 2013, and five states revised 
statutes relating to the death penalty
**************************************

As of December 31, 2013, 35 states and the federal
government authorized the death penalty (table 1 and
table 3). Although New Mexico repealed the death penalty
in 2009 (2009 N.M. Laws, ch. 11 § 5) and Connecticut
repealed the death penalty in 2012, the repeals were not
retroactive, and offenders charged with a capital offense
committed prior to the date of the repeal may be eligible for
a death sentence. As of December 31, 2013, New Mexico
held 2 men and Connecticut held 10 men under previously
imposed death sentences.

In 2013, the Maryland legislature repealed the death penalty
(2013 Maryland Laws, Ch. 156), effective October 1, 2013.
The repeal did not affect previously imposed death
sentences, and as of December 31, 2013, Maryland held
5 men under sentence of death.

During 2013, the Arkansas legislature revised a portion of its
capital statute pertaining to the selection and administration
of drugs in lethal injections (the Method of Execution
Act (MEA), Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-617 (Repl. 2013)). The
changes, which created specific steps to be followed by
corrections officials when carrying out executions, were
made following a decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court
declaring the MEA unconstitutional (Hobbs v. Jones (2012
Ark. 293)) and became effective February 20, 2013.

Kansas amended an element of capital murder—intentional
and premeditated murder of a child under age 14 during
the commission of kidnapping with intent to commit a sex
offense—to include “commercial sexual exploitation” in the
definition of sex offenses (K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 21-5401, at
subsection (b)), effective July 1, 2013.

Mississippi added aggravating factors for which the death
penalty can be imposed to include murder committed
with the intent to influence government by intimidation,
coercion, mass destruction or assassination, or to coerce
civilians (Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(4)(i)-(j)), effective
July 1, 2013.

Texas amended its code of criminal procedure to require
DNA analysis of all biological evidence in death penalty
cases (Tex. C.C.P. Art. 38.43(i), (j), (k), (l), (m)), effective
September 1, 2013.

Utah amended its statute to codify that, for defendants
younger than age 18 at the time of the offense, aggravated
murder is a noncapital first-degree felony punishable as
provided by Utah Code Ann. § 76-3-207.7 (Utah Code Ann.
§ 76-5-202(3)(e)), effective May 14, 2013.

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Executions in 2014
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Between January 1, 2014, and November 30, 2014, 7 
states executed 33 inmates, which was 2 fewer than 
the number executed during the same period in 2013.

Three states accounted for 82% of the executions carried 
out during this period: Texas executed 10 inmates, 
Missouri executed 9 inmates, and Florida executed 8 
inmates.

Of the 33 executions carried out in the first 11 
months of 2014, all were by lethal injection. 

Two women were executed during this period in Texas
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Lethal injection was authorized 
by all states with capital statutes
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As of December 31, 2013, all 35 states with death penalty
statutes authorized lethal injection as a method of execution
(table 2). Maryland, which repealed its capital statute as of
October 1, 2013, authorized lethal injection for the 5 inmates
who remained under sentence of death following the repeal.

In addition to lethal injection, 15 states authorized an
alternative method of execution: 8 states authorized
electrocution; 3 states, lethal gas; 3 states, hanging; and
2 states, firing squad.

In states that authorized multiple methods of execution, the
condemned prisoner generally selects the method. Five of
the 15 states (Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Utah) stipulated which method must be used depending on
the date of either the offense or sentencing. One state (New
Hampshire) authorized hanging only if lethal injection could
not be given. Four states authorized alternative methods if
lethal injection is ruled to be unconstitutional: Delaware
authorized hanging, Oklahoma authorized electrocution or
firing squad, Utah authorized firing squad, and Wyoming
authorized lethal gas.

The method of execution of federal prisoners is lethal
injection, pursuant to 28 CFR Part 26. For offenses
prosecuted under the federal Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994, the method used is that of the state
in which the conviction took place (18 U.S.C. 3596).

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Methodology
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Capital punishment information is collected annually as
part of the National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS-8).
This data series is collected in two parts: data on persons
under sentence of death are obtained from the department
of corrections in each jurisdiction currently authorizing
capital punishment, and the status of death penalty statutes
is obtained from the Office of the Attorney General in each
of the 50 states, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District
of Columbia, and from the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the
federal government. Data collection forms are available on
the BJS website at www.bjs.gov.

NPS-8 covers all persons under sentence of death at any
time during the year who were held in a state or federal
nonmilitary correctional facility. This includes capital
offenders transferred from prison to mental hospitals and
those who may have escaped from custody. It excludes
persons whose death sentences have been overturned by the
court, regardless of their current incarceration status.

The statistics included in this report may differ from
data collected by other organizations for various reasons:
(1) NPS-8 adds inmates to the population under sentence of
death not at sentencing, but at the time they are admitted to
a state or federal correctional facility; (2) if inmates entered
prison under a death sentence or were reported as being
relieved of a death sentence in one year but the court had
acted in the previous year, the counts are adjusted to reflect
the dates of court decisions (see note on table 4 for the
affected jurisdictions); and (3) NPS counts are always for the
last day of the calendar year and will differ from counts for
more recent periods.

All data in this report have been reviewed for accuracy by
the data providers in each jurisdiction prior to publication.

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List of tables
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Table 1. Capital offenses, by state, 2013

Table 2. Method of execution, by state, 2013

Table 3. Federal capital offenses, 2013

Table 4. Prisoners under sentence of death, by
region, jurisdiction, and race, 2012 and 2013

Table 5. Demographic characteristics of prisoners
under sentence of death, 2013

Table 6. Female prisoners under sentence of death,
by region, jurisdiction, and race, 2012 and 2013

Table 7. Hispanic or Latino prisoners under sentence
of death, by region and jurisdiction, 2012 and 2013

Table 8. Criminal history of prisoners under
sentence of death, by race and Hispanic origin, 2013

Table 9. Inmates removed from under sentence of
death, by region, jurisdiction, and method of removal,
2013

Table 10. Average time between sentencing and
execution, 1977–2013

Table 11. Number of inmates executed, by race and
Hispanic origin, 1977–2013

Table 12. Executions and other dispositions of
inmates sentenced to death, by race and Hispanic
origin, 1977–2013

Table 13. Executions, by jurisdiction and method,
1977–2013

Table 14. Executions, by jurisdiction, 1930–2013

Table 15. Prisoners under sentence of death on
December 31, 2013, by jurisdiction and year of
sentencing

Table 16. Prisoners sentenced to death and the
outcome of the sentence, by year of sentencing,
1973–2013

Table 17. Prisoners sentenced to death and the
outcome of the sentence, by jurisdiction, 1973–2013

Appendix Table 1. Inmates under sentence of
death, by demographic characteristics, 2013

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The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice 
is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, 
criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, 
correlates of crime, and the operation of criminal and
civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local 
levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable and 
valid statistics on crime and justice systems in the United 
States, supports improvements to state and local criminal justice 
information systems, and participates with national and 
international organizations to develop and recommend national 
standards for justice statistics. William J. Sabol is acting 
director.

This report was written by Tracy L. Snell. Todd D. Minton verified 
the report.

Beth Davis carried out the data collection and processing, and 
Leslie Ann Miller and Sabrina Webb assisted with data processing, 
under the supervision of Crecilla C. Scott, Criminal Justice 
Statistics Branch, Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. 
Department of Commerce. Rekha Kudlur provided statistical and
technical assistance. Lynne McConnell and Morgan Young edited the 
report. Barbara Quinn produced the report.

December 2014, NCJ 248448

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11/22/14 JER 10:10am