Otis Singleton
The electric chair was first adopted by New York State in 1889 as a more humane alternative to hanging. It was built by Edwin F. Davis, the first state electrician (executioner) for the State of New York. Since then, several states have used the electric chair as a method of execution, including Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Alabama. As of 2024, only seven states still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee. While lethal injection is the most widely-used method of execution in the United States today, some inmates in certain states continue to choose death by electric chair.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| States that reserve the electric chair as an option for execution | Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee |
| States that allow electrocution if lethal injection is found unconstitutional | Mississippi and Oklahoma |
| States that allow electrocution if lethal injection drugs are unavailable | Tennessee |
| States that have used the electric chair in the past | Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas |
| States that have used the electric chair since 2018 | Tennessee |
| Most recent execution by electric chair | Nicholas Todd Sutton, February 20, 2020, in Tennessee |
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What You'll Learn
- States where the electric chair is still an option: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee
- Tennessee inmates' choice between lethal injection and the electric chair
- The electric chair was first adopted by New York State in 1889
- The first person to be executed by electric chair was William Kemmler in 1890
- The electric chair was adopted by Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia in the early 1900s
States where the electric chair is still an option: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee
As of 2024, seven US states reserve the electric chair as an option for execution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Alabama
Alabama's first execution was carried out in 1812. From 1812 to 1927, the primary method of execution was hanging. In 1927, the electric chair, known as "Yellow Mama," was introduced. Today, the primary method is lethal injection, although inmates convicted before 2002 can choose to be executed by electrocution or lethal injection. The last person to be electrocuted in Alabama involuntarily was Lynda Lyon Block in 2002.
Arkansas
Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee offer the electric chair to those sentenced before a certain date. Inmates not selecting this method or convicted after the specified date face lethal injection. Arkansas currently has no death row inmates sentenced before their select date.
Florida
Electrocution is authorized in Florida if lethal injection is found unconstitutional. Inmates may choose between the two methods.
Kentucky
Kentucky abolished public hanging in 1880. In 1920, public hanging was restored for rape, and murder was punishable by death in the electric chair at Eddyville. In 1938, Kentucky abolished hanging. Kentucky holds the record for the most judicially authorized executions in a single day: on July 13, 1928, seven men were sequentially electrocuted in "Old Sparky" (the nickname given to the electric chair in Eddyville).
Louisiana
In 2024, Louisiana lawmakers approved the use of nitrogen gas and electrocution as methods to carry out the death penalty. For four decades until 1991, Louisiana used the electric chair, dubbed by death row inmates as "Gruesome Gertie." An execution has not occurred in the state since 2010, and none are currently scheduled.
South Carolina
South Carolina law provides for execution by lethal injection, but the state's supply of execution drugs expired in 2013. Since then, U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers have refused to sell their medicines to states for use in executions. In 2021, the South Carolina legislature approved a bill that would authorize putting prisoners to death in the electric chair or by firing squad. In 2025, Governor Henry McMaster passed a law making electrocution the primary form of execution, with the options of lethal injection or a firing squad being available if the condemned requests it within 14 and 28 days of their execution.
Tennessee
In May 2014, Tennessee passed a law allowing the use of the electric chair if lethal injection drugs were unavailable. The most recent execution by electric chair was of Nicholas Todd Sutton on February 20, 2020, in Tennessee.
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Tennessee inmates' choice between lethal injection and the electric chair
As of 2024, the U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution. Inmates in other states must select either lethal injection or the electric chair. Tennessee is the only state where inmates are choosing the electric chair.
Tennessee inmates are increasingly opting for the electric chair over lethal injection. Since 2018, five inmates have chosen to be put to death by the electric chair. The most recent was Nicholas Sutton in February 2020. Sutton was the fifth inmate to choose the electric chair over lethal injection.
Tennessee inmates' decisions to request the electric chair might seem counterintuitive, as lethal injection is considered a humane and relatively painless death. However, this perception has been challenged in recent years due to errors and problematic executions. In 2014, an inmate in Oklahoma regained consciousness during a lethal injection, and a federal judge in Ohio wrote that part of the state's lethal injection protocol is akin to waterboarding.
In Tennessee, the lethal injection drugs are midazolam, a sedative; vecuronium bromide, to paralyze the inmate; and potassium chloride, to stop the heart. Expert witnesses for the inmates testified that midazolam wouldn't prevent inmates from feeling pain and that the three-drug combination would cause sensations of drowning, suffocation, and chemical burning while rendering them unable to move or call out.
Inmates in Tennessee who were condemned to death before 1999 are allowed to choose between lethal injection and electrocution. More than half of the inmates on Tennessee's death row fall under this category. Tennessee is one of six states where inmates can choose the electric chair, but it's the only state where they're actually doing so.
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The electric chair was first adopted by New York State in 1889
In 1888, a commission recommended electrocution using Southwick's idea, with metal conductors attached to the condemned person's head and feet. The following year, in 1889, New York State adopted the electric chair as a method of execution, with the first person scheduled to be executed, William Kemmler, convicted of murdering his wife with a hatchet. However, Kemmler's execution was delayed due to an appeal on the grounds that the use of electricity as a means of execution constituted "'cruel and unusual punishment'.
Despite the concerns raised, the electric chair became the prevalent method of execution in the United States, with states like Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia adopting it in the following years. It was perceived as a technological marvel and an advance of civilization, and remained the choice method of capital punishment for nearly a century.
Today, the electric chair is considered outdated, with lethal injection being the most widely-used method of execution in the United States. However, some states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee, still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution, with inmates in some states having the right to choose between the electric chair and lethal injection.
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The first person to be executed by electric chair was William Kemmler in 1890
The electric chair was first used as a means of execution in the United States in 1890, when William Kemmler was put to death in New York.
Kemmler, who was intellectually disabled, had been convicted of murdering his common-law wife, Matilda "Tillie" Ziegler, with an axe. He was sentenced to death by electrocution, which had been legalised in New York in 1888, becoming the first US state to do so.
Kemmler's execution was botched. After an initial 17-second jolt of 1,000 volts, he was declared dead. But then he groaned, and witnesses reportedly screamed: "Turn on the current!" The generator needed time to recharge, but when the current was turned on again, it was 2,000 volts. Blood vessels under Kemmler's skin ruptured and bled, and witnesses reported that his body caught fire. The execution took about eight minutes in total.
The electric chair was soon adopted by other states, including Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia, and it became the prevalent method of execution in the US, replacing hanging. Lethal injection has since become the primary means of execution in the US, but several states still reserve the electric chair as an option, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
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The electric chair was adopted by Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia in the early 1900s
The electric chair was first adopted by New York State in 1889 as a more humane alternative to hanging. It was built by Edwin F. Davis, the state's first executioner, and was designed to help death row inmates "die as pleasantly as possible."
Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia all followed suit in the early 1900s. Ohio was the first to do so in 1897, followed by Massachusetts in 1900, New Jersey in 1906, and Virginia in 1908. The electric chair soon became the prevalent method of execution in the United States, replacing hanging.
In the modern era, lethal injection has become the preferred method of execution in all states, and the electric chair has fallen out of use. As of 2024, only seven states still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Inmates in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kentucky can choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, with some opting for the latter due to concerns about the lethal injection procedure.
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Frequently asked questions
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
New York, in 1889.
William Kemmler, in 1890.
Tennessee, in 2020.
Texas, with 361 inmates electrocuted.
