By Olivia Wilson Yes. The electric chair is still legal as a method of execution in parts of the United States, although it is now rarely used. As of October 2026, nine states authorize electrocution in some form: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In most of those states, lethal injection remains the primary method. South Carolina is the major exception because electrocution is the default if a condemned prisoner does not choose another legally available method.
Where Is Electrocution Still Allowed?
The rules differ from state to state. Alabama and Florida allow certain death-row prisoners to choose electrocution instead of lethal injection. Tennessee also authorizes the electric chair in specified circumstances, including for some prisoners whose crimes occurred before the end of 1998 and as a backup if lethal injection cannot lawfully be used.
Arkansas retains electrocution as a fallback if lethal injection is invalidated. Other states keep electrocution in their statutes even though the method has not been used there for many years.
South Carolina has the clearest current default rule. Under state law, a person sentenced to death may elect electrocution, firing squad, or lethal injection if lethal injection is available. If the prisoner does not make a valid choice, the sentence is carried out by electrocution.
Is the Electric Chair Constitutional?
The U.S. Supreme Court has not issued a modern blanket decision declaring electrocution unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Federal courts have generally allowed states to retain the method.
State constitutions can provide greater protection. The supreme courts of Georgia and Nebraska ruled that electrocution violated their state constitutional protections, so the electric chair cannot be used there.
South Carolina reached the opposite conclusion in 2024. In Owens v. Stirling, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state’s execution-method statute and ruled that electrocution did not violate the state constitution’s prohibition on cruel, corporal, or unusual punishment.
Modern U.S. Supreme Court cases on execution methods also make clear that the Constitution does not guarantee a completely painless death. Method-of-execution challenges generally require a prisoner to establish a serious constitutional risk under the standards developed by the Court.
When Was the Electric Chair Last Used?
Electrocution has become extremely uncommon. The most recent U.S. execution by electric chair was the February 20, 2020 execution of Nicholas Sutton in Tennessee. Sutton chose electrocution after litigation concerning Tennessee’s lethal-injection protocol.
Since then, states carrying out executions have mainly relied on lethal injection, nitrogen hypoxia, or, in a small number of cases, firing squad. South Carolina resumed executions in recent years, but prisoners have selected lethal injection or firing squad rather than electrocution.
Why Do States Still Keep the Electric Chair?
One reason is the continuing difficulty states face in obtaining lethal-injection drugs. Pharmaceutical companies have restricted the use of some products in executions, while states have also faced litigation over drug supplies, secrecy laws, and execution protocols.
That has encouraged several states to keep or revive alternative methods. These include electrocution, firing squad, and nitrogen hypoxia. Idaho, for example, made firing squad its primary execution method beginning July 1, 2026.
The federal government has also moved toward broader execution options. In April 2026, the Justice Department announced steps to expand federal execution protocols beyond lethal injection. Federal law can also link the manner of a federal execution to the method permitted by the state where the federal death sentence was imposed.
Can Every Death-Row Prisoner Choose the Electric Chair?
No. A state’s authorization of electrocution does not mean every condemned prisoner has an unrestricted right to choose it.
Eligibility depends on the wording of the state’s statute, the date of the offense, the availability of other execution methods, and applicable court decisions. In some states electrocution is an option; in others it is only a backup. South Carolina is unusual because it makes electrocution the default when the prisoner does not make another valid selection.
The Bottom Line
The electric chair has not disappeared from American law. As of October 2026, electrocution remains legally authorized in nine states, even though it is rarely used in practice. South Carolina still treats it as the default execution method, while most other states that retain it use lethal injection as their primary method.
Whether electrocution can actually be used also depends on state constitutional law. Georgia and Nebraska have prohibited the method under their own constitutions, while South Carolina’s highest court has upheld it.
So the short answer is yes: the electric chair is still legal in the United States, but only in a limited number of states and under specific statutory rules.