The five principal execution methods used in U.S. history are lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and hanging. Lethal injection is the dominant modern method, but it is not the only method authorized in some state laws. Which method applies depends on the jurisdiction and its current statute: a method can be legally authorized without an active protocol or a record of recent use.
The five principal execution methods
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) identifies hanging, electrocution, the gas chamber, firing squad, and lethal injection as the principal methods used in the United States. Their present-day legal status and use differ substantially.
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the primary or default method in most jurisdictions that retain capital punishment. The drugs and procedures are set by jurisdiction-specific protocols, which can change; there is no single national protocol. Drug availability and legal challenges have also led some states to provide for alternative methods.
Electrocution
Electrocution remains authorized in some states, usually as an alternative rather than the default. The rules may make it available if a prisoner elects it under specified conditions or place it later in a fallback sequence. DPIC’s methods overview reports that nine states authorize electrocution; that is a legal-authorization count, not a count of states with active protocols or recent executions. State courts have invalidated the electric chair under state constitutional law in Georgia and Nebraska. Those decisions are not a nationwide U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
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Lethal gas and nitrogen hypoxia
“Lethal gas” is an umbrella term. Older gas-chamber executions used cyanide; nitrogen hypoxia is a distinct, newer method that uses nitrogen and oxygen deprivation. DPIC reports that five states specifically authorize nitrogen hypoxia. It also reports that Alabama and Louisiana have issued protocols and carried out executions using the method. Those are separate measures of status: authorization alone does not establish that a protocol exists or that the method has been used.
Firing squad
Firing squad is authorized in a small number of states, with its place in the law varying: it may be a fallback, an elected alternative, or the primary method. DPIC reports that five states authorize firing squad. It also reports that South Carolina carried out three firing-squad executions during 2025. Idaho’s law made firing squad the primary method effective July 1, 2026. These figures and rules are time-sensitive.
Hanging
Hanging was the primary execution method in the United States until approximately the 1890s. It is principally a historical method in contemporary accounts. Old statutes and cases from places that have since abolished capital punishment can complicate broad claims about whether hanging remains “authorized.” It is more accurate to describe it as chiefly historical than to imply it is a normal present-day method.
Why the method depends on the state and the case
State statutes set the method for state prosecutions and specify when a person may elect an alternative or when a fallback applies. For example, Alabama’s statute makes lethal injection the default while allowing specified prisoner elections under statutory conditions. Mississippi’s statute sets out alternatives tied to the unavailability or invalidation of an earlier method. South Carolina makes electrocution the default unless an eligible prisoner elects an available alternative. Idaho’s priority rule changed on July 1, 2026.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThese examples illustrate why a national list cannot determine the method for an individual case. The applicable statute, any election rules, the availability of the specified method, and relevant court decisions all matter. A method’s presence in a statute does not by itself establish that the corrections agency has an operational protocol or that the method has been used recently.
How federal executions relate to state law
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2026 report, Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty, says: “Federal law permits federal authorities to carry out executions using any method permitted by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed.” The report explains that the state methods in its 2026 table satisfy federal law governing implementation when the federal sentence was imposed in that state. For a federal case, both the governing federal statute and the applicable state law matter; federal and state execution protocols should not be assumed to be identical.
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How to read claims about execution methods
When comparing methods or jurisdictions, separate three questions:
- Is it authorized? A statute permits the method, perhaps only as an alternative or fallback.
- Is there an active protocol? The responsible agency has procedures for carrying it out.
- Has it been used? An execution has actually been performed by that method, which may be relevant only to a particular period.
DPIC’s counts of states authorizing electrocution, gas, or firing squad are legal-status counts, not measures of recent use or operational readiness. Its nitrogen-hypoxia figures likewise distinguish specific authorization from protocols and executions. These counts reflect DPIC’s page as accessed in 2026 and may change as laws and effective dates change.
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