Yes, Florida still allows execution by electric chair, but only as an option the condemned person must actively choose. Since January 2000, lethal injection has been the default method, and the oak chair at Florida State Prison known as “Old Sparky” has sat unused since 1999. It remains legally authorized and functional, and any person under a death sentence in Florida can elect it in writing within a strict window after their sentence is affirmed.
The Choice Every Death-Sentenced Inmate Gets
Florida Statute 922.105 gives each person sentenced to death one opportunity to choose electrocution instead of lethal injection. The election has to be made personally by the inmate, in writing, and delivered to the warden of the correctional facility.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 922.105 – Execution of Death Sentence No attorney, family member, or third party can make the choice for them.
The deadlines are short. The signed election must reach the warden within 30 days after the Florida Supreme Court issues its mandate affirming the death sentence. If a death warrant is already pending or is issued within 30 days of the statute’s effective date, the inmate has only 48 hours after the Governor sets a new execution date to submit the paperwork.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 922.105 – Execution of Death Sentence Miss the window and the option is permanently waived. The statute does not permit revocation or a change of mind after the election is filed.
Silence produces a default outcome. An inmate who submits nothing will be executed by lethal injection, which is why the electric chair now operates entirely on opt-in.
Why the Chair Stopped Being the Default
Florida used the electric chair as its sole execution method for most of the 20th century, and the shift happened after three executions in the 1990s drew national and international attention.
Pedro Medina’s execution on March 25, 1997 produced flames from the headpiece after three electrical charges were delivered, filling the chamber with smoke thick enough that officials had to open the doors to ventilate the room. An autopsy revealed burns and pulmonary congestion.2University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. Pedro Luis Medina v. United States, Case 11.829, Report No. 115
Then, on July 8, 1999, Allen Lee Davis became the last person executed by electrocution in Florida. Davis, who weighed approximately 350 pounds, was strapped into a newly built chair designed to accommodate his size. Before he was pronounced dead, blood poured from his mouth, soaking through his shirt and the leather chest strap. Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw described the photographs as showing “a man who — for all appearances — was brutally tortured to death by the citizens of Florida.”3Death Penalty Information Center. Botched Executions
Within six months, Governor Jeb Bush called lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a special session. In two days the legislature passed SB 10A, making lethal injection the default and preserving the electric chair as an option the condemned person could affirmatively select.4Florida Legislature. Florida Code Chapter 2000-2 – Execution of the Death Sentence
Is the Chair Still Constitutional?
Florida courts have upheld electrocution as constitutional. In Provenzano v. Moore, decided shortly after the Davis execution, the Florida Supreme Court held that execution by electrocution in Florida’s electric chair “does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment, and therefore, is not unconstitutional.”5FindLaw. Provenzano v. Moore (1999)
The court found “abundant evidence” that electrocution renders an inmate instantaneously unconscious and that the chair’s electrical circuitry was being properly maintained. It also rejected the argument that electrocution violated evolving standards of decency. An earlier Florida ruling, Jones v. State (1997), had already set the standard: electrocution could only be struck down if it involved “torture or a lingering death” or the infliction of “unnecessary and wanton pain.”5FindLaw. Provenzano v. Moore (1999)
Section 922.105 also builds in a backstop. If either electrocution or lethal injection is later struck down as unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court, the state can switch to any method that passes constitutional muster, and the death sentence itself cannot be reduced to a prison term because of a problem with the method.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 922.105 – Execution of Death Sentence
What Happens If an Inmate Chooses the Chair
The chair at Florida State Prison is built from heavy oak. It includes a copper headpiece with an electrode, a separate electrode attached to the leg, and leather straps at the waist, chest, arms, and legs. A natural sea sponge soaked in saline is placed between the copper headpiece and the scalp to conduct the current.6Death Penalty Information Center. Florida Electrocution Protocol
The protocol calls for three automatic cycles: 2,300 volts at 9.5 amps for 8 seconds, then 1,000 volts at 4 amps for 22 seconds, then 2,300 volts at 9.5 amps for another 8 seconds.7Florida State University College of Law. Provenzano v. Moore – Court Filing 95973 An anonymous executioner designated by the warden activates the system from a separate control panel.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 922.10 – Execution of Death Sentence; Executioner A qualified physician performs a physical examination after the final cycle and announces when death has been confirmed.
Under section 922.11, the warden or a deputy must be present, along with 12 citizens the warden selects as witnesses and a qualified physician. The condemned person’s attorney and any ministers of religion they request may attend. Media representatives can be present under rules set by the Secretary of Corrections.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 922.11 – Regulation of Execution Everyone else, apart from prison and correctional officers, is excluded.
How Florida Compares to Other States
Florida is one of roughly nine states that still authorize electrocution in some form, but the details vary. South Carolina is the only state where the electric chair is the default method. Alabama gives the condemned person a choice among lethal injection, electrocution, and nitrogen hypoxia. Kentucky and Tennessee limit the electrocution option to people whose offenses predate specific cutoff years. Mississippi and Oklahoma treat electrocution as a fallback available only if both lethal injection and nitrogen hypoxia fail.
No one has been executed by electrocution in Florida since Allen Lee Davis in 1999. The chair remains legally available, and it remains a choice no condemned person in the state has made in more than 25 years.