U.S. Department of Justice
Oce of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables
December 2021, NCJ 302729
Capital Punishment, 2020 –
Statistical Tables
Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician
A
t yearend 2020, a total of 28 states and
the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) held
2,469 prisoners under sentence of death,
which was 94 (4%) fewer than at yearend 2019.
During 2020, the number of prisoners under
sentence of death declined for the twentieth
consecutive year. California (28%), Florida (14%),
and Texas (8%) held half of the prisoners
under sentence of death in the United States on
December 31, 2020. e BOP held 51 prisoners
under sentence of death at yearend.
Five states and the BOP executed a total of
17 prisoners in 2020. e BOP executed
10 prisoners, which accounted for 59% of the
executions carried out in 2020.
is report presents statistics on persons who
were under sentence of death in 2020, state and
federal death penalty laws in 2020, and historical
trends in executions. At yearend 2020, a total of
31 states and the federal government authorized
the death penalty (map 1).
MAP 1
States with and without death penalty statutes, yearend 2020
Had the death penalty as of
December 31, 2020 but did not carry
out an execution in 2020
Had no death penalty as of
December 31, 2020
Had the death penalty as of
December 31, 2020 and carried out
an execution in 2020*
Note: See table 2 for details on states that authorized the death penalty.
*Not shown: Federal Bureau of Prisons, which carried out 10 executions in 2020. See table 1 for executions by jurisdiction.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics program (NPS-8), 2020.