Death penalty bills are unlikely to move before DeWine leaves office
Ohio hasn't carried out an execution since 2019. Sponsors of bills to abolish capital punishment and to add execution methods don't expect votes this year.
Published Oct 15, 2026, Eastern Time
Source / event date: Oct 14, 2026
Statewide
Neither a bill to abolish Ohio's death penalty nor one to allow new execution methods is expected to pass in the General Assembly's lame-duck session, their sponsors told the Statehouse News Bureau. [1]
House Bill 72, co-sponsored by Rep. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, would abolish the death penalty and bar public funding for drugs used to induce abortion or assist suicide. House Bill 36, co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, would allow any execution method the U.S. Supreme Court finds acceptable, including firing squads and toxic gas. [1]
Ohio has carried out no executions since Gov. Mike DeWine took office in 2019; problems obtaining lethal injection drugs have been cited. In June, DeWine asked lawmakers to abolish executions. [1]
With DeWine's second term ending this year, the next governor and General Assembly will decide the issue. [1]
Sources
- Death penalty bills are unlikely to move now, despite attention to it · Statehouse News Bureau · Oct. 14, 2026
Written by The Ohio Catch. AI-assisted reporting, checked against the sources above. Report an error.