No. Texas does not use the electric chair anymore. The state retired electrocution in 1977, and every execution since then has been carried out by lethal injection, which is now the only method Texas law authorizes.1State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 43.14 – Execution of Convict The old chair, nicknamed “Old Sparky,” sits behind glass at the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville.
When Texas Stopped Using the Electric Chair
Electrocution was the state’s execution method from 1924 to 1964. Over those four decades, 361 people were put to death in the chair, with the last electrocution carried out on July 30, 1964.2Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Death Row Information
Executions then stopped nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which held that the way states were imposing death sentences amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.3Justia. Furman v Georgia, 408 US 238 The ruling did not abolish capital punishment, but it forced states to rewrite their sentencing laws. When Texas passed new capital punishment legislation in 1977, it replaced the electric chair with lethal injection as the sole execution method.2Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Death Row Information
Actual executions did not resume in Texas for several more years. On December 7, 1982, Charles Brooks Jr. was put to death at the Huntsville Unit, becoming the first person in the United States ever executed by lethal injection.2Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Death Row Information
How Texas Carries Out Executions Now
Under Article 43.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, a death sentence is carried out by intravenous injection of a lethal dose of one or more substances, administered until the person is dead. The director of the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice oversees the procedure.1State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 43.14 – Execution of Convict Executions take place at the Huntsville Unit and cannot begin before 6 p.m. on the scheduled date.
The current protocol uses a single drug, pentobarbital, a powerful sedative that causes unconsciousness and then stops breathing. Texas previously used a three-drug combination of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. The switch happened after pharmaceutical manufacturers began refusing to sell their products for executions, creating supply shortages that pushed several states to simplify their protocols.
Up to five witnesses chosen by the condemned person from their approved visitation list may attend, including family, friends, and a spiritual advisor. Victims’ family members and close friends may watch from a separate room, and media representatives get five witness spots divided between the two viewing rooms.4Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Victim Services Division – Viewing Executions
The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the legal footing of this method in Glossip v. Gross (2015), holding that a lethal injection protocol is constitutional as long as it does not create a substantial risk of severe pain compared to a feasible, less painful alternative that the challenger can identify.5Justia. Glossip v Gross, 576 US 863
Can a Texas Inmate Choose the Electric Chair
No. People on death row in Texas have no say in how they are executed. Article 43.14 prescribes lethal injection as the only method, with no exception for personal preference, religious objection, or the date of conviction.1State of Texas. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 43.14 – Execution of Convict The electric chair is not on the menu, because there is no menu.
That sets Texas apart from a few other death penalty states. South Carolina defaults to electrocution but lets a condemned person elect death by firing squad or lethal injection, in writing, at least fourteen days before the execution date.6South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 24-3-530 – Death Penalty Alabama gives inmates a one-time choice among lethal injection, electrocution, and nitrogen hypoxia.7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-18-82.1 – Methods of Execution Election of Method Constitutionality Texas lawmakers deliberately chose a single-method approach to standardize the process and reduce litigation over method selection.
Where Old Sparky Is Today
The wooden chair that carried out those 361 executions is now on display at the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, a few miles from the prison unit where it was once used.2Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Death Row Information It is disconnected from any power source and stripped of its original straps.
The museum shows related items from the electrocution era, including a hangman’s noose, the tubing and straps used in the 1982 Brooks execution, and a teletype machine that once received last-minute reprieves from the Governor’s office. The chair’s move from a working prison to a museum case is the clearest sign of where Texas stands on the electric chair question. It is history, not policy.