It's 2026. If you look at a map of the United States to find the states the death penalty is legal in, you’re going to get a headache.
Technically, 27 states still have capital punishment on the books. But "legal" and "actually happening" are two very different things in the American justice system today. Some states are speeding up. Others have a total freeze. A few are even bringing back old-school methods like firing squads because they can't get their hands on execution drugs.
It’s messy.
Honestly, the landscape shifted a lot in 2025. Between new executive orders at the federal level and a wave of state-level laws targeting specific crimes—like sex offenses against children—the "death penalty map" is more of a moving target than a static list.
The 27 States Where it’s Still Legal
Let’s just get the list out of the way first. As of early 2026, the following states authorize capital punishment:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
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Wait. Don’t just take that list at face value.
If you live in California, Oregon, or Pennsylvania, your state is on that list. But your governor has likely issued a moratorium. That basically means the law is there, but the executioner isn't allowed to clock in. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom famously dismantled the execution chamber at San Quentin years ago, yet hundreds of people still sit on death row. It's a legal limbo that drives both sides of the debate crazy.
What Really Changed in 2025?
Last year was a bit of a whirlwind for capital punishment law. Florida and Arkansas made headlines by expanding the list of crimes that can land you a death sentence. In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed SB 375, which allows the death penalty for the rape of a child under 13.
This is a big deal because the U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008) that you couldn't execute someone for a crime where no one died. These states are basically daring the Supreme Court to change its mind.
Then there’s the federal side of things. At the start of 2025, the federal government pivoted hard. After a period where federal executions were paused, the current administration issued executive orders to jumpstart the process, specifically targeting cases involving the murder of law enforcement officers or crimes committed by "unauthorized aliens."
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The Methods: It's Not Just Lethal Injection Anymore
For a long time, lethal injection was the only game in town. But pharmaceutical companies started refusing to sell their drugs for executions. States got desperate.
- Alabama and Mississippi started using nitrogen hypoxia (basically breathing in pure nitrogen until you pass out and die).
- South Carolina actually carried out three firing squad executions in 2025—the most we've seen in decades.
- Idaho recently made the firing squad its primary method because it's "more reliable" than hunting for rare chemicals.
It feels a bit medieval, right? But for the states that are committed to carrying out sentences, these methods are seen as a way to bypass the "drug shortage" problem that has stalled the system for years.
Texas and Oklahoma: The Usual Suspects
If you’re looking at where executions actually happen, you’re usually looking at a very small handful of states.
Texas is, well, Texas. They have several executions scheduled for 2026, including Charles Victor Thompson in late January. But even in the Lone Star State, things are slowing down. There’s a huge fight right now over the case of Robert Roberson, who many believe was convicted on "junk science" related to Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Oklahoma is the other big player. They’ve had a busy schedule, but botched executions in the past have forced them to constantly tweak their protocols. Kendrick Simpson is one of the names on their 2026 calendar.
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Why Some States "Have" It But Don't "Use" It
New Hampshire is a weird one. They abolished the death penalty in 2019, but it wasn't retroactive. That means they still have one guy on death row, but they haven't executed anyone since 1939.
Then you have states like Kansas and Wyoming. Technically legal? Yes. Anyone actually being executed? Not in decades. Usually, this is because the legal appeals process is so grueling and expensive that the state just lets people sit on death row for 30 years until they die of old age. It's often cheaper to keep someone in a maximum-security cell for life than it is to pay for the decades of mandatory legal battles required to execute them.
Actionable Insights for 2026
If you’re following this topic for a class, a legal case, or just because the news is stressing you out, keep these three things in mind:
- Watch the Supreme Court: Many of the "new" death penalty laws passed in 2025 (like child rape cases) are designed to be "test cases." We’ll likely see a massive ruling by 2027 that decides if these expansions are constitutional.
- The "Moratorium" Factor: If you're researching a specific state, don't just check if the law exists. Check the governor’s office. A "pro-death penalty" state can become a "no-execution" state overnight with one signature.
- Local Elections Matter: Prosecutors (District Attorneys) are the ones who decide whether to seek the death penalty in the first place. In many "legal" states, urban DAs have simply stopped asking for it, effectively ending the practice in their cities regardless of what the state law says.
The reality of the states the death penalty is legal in is that the map is shrinking in practice, even if the laws stay on the books. Whether it's because of the cost, the morality, or just the sheer difficulty of finding the right chemicals, the "machinery of death" is definitely creaking.
To stay updated on specific execution dates or pending legislation in your area, you can monitor the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) or the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), as they track these shifts in real-time.