Kenneth Glad
Legal records show a punishment still on the books, while political leaders remain divided over how to proceed. The outcome depends on pending bills, court records, and whether the state can use a lawful execution method.
Capital punishment remains legal in more than half of U.S. states, but its use varies sharply across the United States.
Some states continue to carry out executions, while others keep death sentences on the books even as legal challenges, drug shortages, and political opposition prevent them from moving forward.
Ohio falls into the second category. The state has 30 executions listed on its official calendar, beginning with Keith LaMar on January 13, 2027, and continuing through Melvin Bonnell on October 18, 2029.
The schedule is published by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, but the Death Penalty Information Center says no Ohio execution is expected unless lawmakers approve a new method.
Ohio has not carried out an execution since July 2018. Governor Mike DeWine has repeatedly delayed execution dates because the state has been unable to obtain lethal injection drugs from pharmaceutical suppliers, according to the Washington Post.
Drug access keeps lethal injection on hold
Ohio’s execution list remains official, yet lethal injection has not been available for years. That has left prosecutors, defense lawyers, families, lawmakers, and prisoners facing dates that may be postponed again.
House Bill 36 would add nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method and prohibit disclosure of identifying information about execution workers and suppliers.
Attorney General Dave Yost has urged lawmakers to allow executions to resume, arguing in his final capital crimes report that the long pause has undermined lawful sentences.
Other lawmakers want the opposite outcome. House Bill 72 would repeal Ohio’s death penalty entirely, reflecting a bipartisan push from legislators who say the punishment is too costly, inconsistent, and vulnerable to error.
Exoneration figures shape repeal effort
Ohioans to Stop Executions says 12 people have been exonerated from Ohio’s death row since capital punishment was reinstated in the state.
Its 2026 report argues that wrongful convictions have involved withheld evidence, unreliable testimony, mistaken identifications, and disputed forensic evidence.
The case of Elwood Jones has become part of that argument. Jones was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1990s, then spent decades fighting the case.
After later evidence reviews and forensic testing, prosecutors dismissed the charges. Speaking about Ohio’s inability to obtain execution drugs, he said: “If they had the drugs, I would be dead and I’ve done nothing wrong.”
For repeal supporters, the Jones case is a warning about what can happen when evidence is reexamined years after a death sentence is imposed.
Lucasville conviction sits first on list
LaMar’s scheduled date has received attention because it is first on Ohio’s current execution calendar.
He was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 for the deaths of five inmates during the 1993 uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. The prison riot lasted 11 days and left 10 people dead.
LaMar has maintained that he did not commit the killings tied to his death sentence. His supporters have questioned the witness testimony used against him, while the courts have allowed the conviction and sentence to stand through years of appeals.
Nationally, 27 states still authorize the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Ohio remains among them, but its execution calendar now depends heavily on legislation.
If lawmakers approve nitrogen hypoxia, Ohio could have a new route for carrying out death sentences. If repeal legislation advances, the state could end capital punishment before the next listed execution date arrives.
For now, Ohio has death warrants scheduled through 2029, no recent executions, and two competing legislative proposals that would take the law in sharply different directions.
Sources: Death Penalty Information Center, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Washington Post, Ohioans to Stop Executions
