Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician

July 23, 2019    NCJ 253060

Provides statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics' annual data collection on capital punishment. It includes statistics on the number of prisoners executed each year from 1977 through 2017, the number and race of prisoners under sentence of death at year-end 2017 by state, and the average elapsed time from sentence to execution by year from 1977 through 2017.

Highlights:

• At year-end 2017, a total of 32 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) held 2,703 prisoners under sentence of death, which was 94 (3%) less than at year-end 2016.
• In 2017, the number of prisoners held under sentence of death declined for the 17th consecutive year.
• Eighteen states held fewer prisoners under sentence of death at year-end 2017 than at year-end 2016, 3 states and the BOP held more prisoners, and 11 states held the same number.
• Three states accounted for 59% of the national decline in prisoners under sentence of death in 2017: Florida (down 33 prisoners), Delaware (down 12), and Texas (down 10).

Part of the Capital Punishment Series

Full report (PDF 525K)
Data tables (Zip format 6K)
Prisoners Executed (Spreadsheet)

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