States With Most People on Death Row

Nevada became the first state to use the gas chamber to execute death row inmates in 1924. However, since 1979, all executions in the state have been carried out through lethal injection. Currently, the sentences of the 65 men on death row in Nevada are expected to be carried out in Ely State Prison.

The state of Nevada has not executed a prisoner since 2006. Earlier this year, an execution was put on hold as the drugs that were to be used for the lethal injection were set to expire before a formal death warrant could be issued. Those drugs include a combination of ketamine, fentanyl, and either potassium chloride or potassium acetate.

Arizona is one of only eight states with more than 100 people on death row. As of April 1, 2022, there were 116 inmates with a death sentence in the state – though that number has since changed. After nearly eight years with no executions, Arizona executed two inmates in 2022 and has a third execution scheduled for Nov. 16, 2022.

Three death row prisoners in the state are women, for whom sentencing will be carried out at the Arizona Department of Corrections Perryville. The remaining male prisoners who have received a death sentence are to be executed at the Florence Arizona State Prison Complex. Death sentences in the state are carried out by lethal injection, and amid the national drug shortage of execution drugs, Arizona was caught by FDA officials in 2015 attempting to import illegal lethal injection drugs from India. Death row inmates in the state who were convicted before November 1992 also have the choice of the gas chamber.

There were 128 people on death row in Pennsylvania as of April 1, 2022, more than in all but six other states. Still, only three executions have been carried out in Pennsylvania since 1976, and in 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on executions, citing concerns of the potential innocence of inmates and racial bias in prosecution and sentencing. Currently, a little over half of all death row inmates in Pennsylvania are Black. Black Americans comprise just 12% of the state population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Despite the moratorium, courts in the state can still issue death sentences. Crimes that legally warrant a death sentence in Pennsylvania include the killing of a minor under age 12, killing a police officer, and killing a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy.

Ohio is the only state in the Midwest with more than 100 people on death row. As of April 1, 2022, there were 134 people on death row in the state. Though there were executions scheduled in Ohio in recent months, they have been postponed due to a limited supply of lethal injection drugs. The last execution in Ohio was carried out in July 2018. Currently, 30 executions are scheduled in Ohio from 2023 through 2026.

All but one death row inmate in Ohio are men, and their executions will be held in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. Female death row inmates in the state are executed in the Marysville Ohio Reformatory for Women.

There were 138 people on death row in North Carolina as of April 1, 2022. Some 827 people have been executed in the state’s history, though 16 years have passed since the last death sentence was carried out. The state has also released 12 convicts who were sentenced to death but were later found to be not guilty.

All but two death row inmates in North Carolina are men, and their executions will be held in the Raleigh Central Prison. Female death row inmates in the state are executed in the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women, also in Raleigh.