Seventy-four people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1997, sixty-eight by lethal injection, and six by electrocution. Maryland carried out its first involuntary execution since the early 1960s. Colorado conducted its last execution that same year before the state officially abolished capital punishment in 2020. Oregon conducted its last execution that same year before the state suspended the use of capital punishment, with then Governor Kate Brown commuting the death sentences of 17 inmates to life without parole and thus emptying the state's death row before the end of her term in 2022.

List of people executed in the United States in 1997 Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method At execution At offense Age difference 1January 8, 1997 47 28 19Male White ArkansasLethal injection 2 49 29 20 Hispanic 3 30 22 8 Black 4January 10, 1997 44 30 14WhiteAlabamaElectrocution 5January 23, 1997 47 29 18ArizonaLethal injection 6January 29, 1997 35 23 12Missouri 7February 6, 1997 39 33 6Virginia 8February 10, 1997 41 31 10Texas 9February 26, 1997 38 27 11BlackVirginia 10March 12, 1997 32 22 10Texas 11March 25, 1997 39 24 15HispanicFloridaElectrocution 12April 2, 1997 32 7WhiteTexasLethal injection 13April 3, 1997 40 25 15 14April 14, 1997 50 28 22 15April 16, 1997 36 22 14 16April 21, 1997 53 42 11 17April 24, 1997 35 23 12Louisiana 18April 29, 1997 55 44 11Texas 19May 2, 1997 62 41 21BlackAlabamaElectrocution 20May 6, 1997 33 23 10TexasLethal injection 21May 8, 1997 22 19 3WhiteOklahoma 22May 13, 1997 36 23 13BlackTexas 23May 16, 1997 56 51 5WhiteOregon 24 38 27 11Texas 25May 19, 1997 39 28 26May 20, 1997 42 22 20 27May 21, 1997 37 20 17Black 28May 22, 1997 47 26 21White 29May 28, 1997 33 22 11 30June 2, 1997 21 12Black 31June 3, 1997 34 23 11 32June 4, 1997 30 19 33 32 13Hispanic 34 June 6, 1997 42 26 16WhiteAlabamaElectrocution 35 June 11, 1997 33 22 11TexasLethal injection 36 June 13, 1997 41 35 6South Carolina 37 June 16, 1997 38 27 11Texas 38 June 17, 1997 44 35 9Black 39 June 18, 1997 30 18 12Hispanic 40 June 25, 1997 51 34 17WhiteArizona 41 July 1, 1997 44 27 KentuckyElectrocution 42 July 2, 1997 38 26 12BlackMarylandLethal injection 43 July 17, 1997 50 41 9WhiteVirginia 44 July 23, 1997 54 13 45 July 29, 1997 35 20 15Native AmericanTexas 46August 6, 1997 42 32 10WhiteMissouri 47 53 36 17Arkansas 48 August 13, 1997 54 43 11Missouri 49 August 19, 1997 35 23 12BlackVirginia 50 August 20, 1997 32 21 11WhiteMissouri 51 September 9, 1997 34 13BlackTexas 52 September 17, 1997 25 19 6HispanicVirginia 53 September 22, 1997 37 25 12BlackTexas 54 September 24, 1997 48 32 16Missouri 55 September 25, 1997 45 43 2WhiteTexas 56 September 30, 1997 38 27 11 57 October 1, 1997 41 31 10Black 58 October 8, 1997 36 24 12White 59 October 13, 1997 53 41 Colorado 60 October 22, 1997 39 24 15Missouri 61 October 28, 1997 34 20 14BlackTexas 62 November 4, 1997 43 31 12Pacific Islander 63 November 6, 1997 30 21 9White 64 November 7, 1997 32 19 13BlackSouth Carolina 65 November 13, 1997 44 35 9Virginia 66November 19, 1997 41 23 18Illinois 67 45 25 20 68 43 28 15WhiteTexas 69 November 20, 1997 40 23 17BlackIndiana 70 November 21, 1997 35 21 14Texas 71 December 2, 1997 61 40 21NebraskaElectrocution 72December 9, 1997 37 27 10WhiteTexasLethal injection 73 29 21 8 BlackVirginia 74 December 11, 1997 26 18 White Average: 40 years 28 years 13 years

Demographics Gender Male 74 Female 0 Ethnicity White 41 Black 26 Hispanic 5 Native American 1 Pacific Islander 1 State Texas 37 Virginia 9 Missouri 6 Arkansas 4 Alabama 3 Arizona 2 Illinois 2 South Carolina 2 Colorado 1 Florida 1 Indiana 1 Kentucky 1 Louisiana 1 Maryland 1 Nebraska 1 Oklahoma 1 Oregon 1 Method Lethal injection 68 Electrocution 6 Month January 6 February 3 March 2 April 7 May 11 June 11 July 5 August 5 September 6 October 5 November 9 December 4 Age 20–29 4 30–39 36 40–49 22 50–59 10 60–69 2 Total 74 100%

Executions in recent years Number of executions 1998 68 1997 74 1996 45 Total 187

References