Yes, Indiana does have the death penalty. It applies only to murder convictions where prosecutors prove at least one specific aggravating circumstance, and the state resumed carrying out executions in December 2024 after a 15-year gap. Three people have been executed since then, and five men remain on death row as of late 2025.
Recent Executions and Where Things Stand Now
Indiana did not execute anyone between December 2009 and December 2024. That changed with the lethal injection of Joseph Corcoran on December 18, 2024, for a quadruple homicide. Benjamin Ritchie was executed in May 2025 for the fatal shooting of a police officer, and Roy Lee Ward was executed in October 2025.
Five men remained on Indiana’s death row as of late 2025, though only four were considered competent for execution at that time. The state has not requested execution dates for any of them, and no executions are scheduled for 2026. There is no formal moratorium, so Indiana retains the legal authority to set new dates at any time.
What Makes a Murder Death-Eligible
A murder conviction alone is not enough. Prosecutors must file, separately from the main charging document, at least one statutory aggravating circumstance.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-9 – Death Penalty Sentencing Procedure The main categories are:
- Murder committed during arson, burglary, child molesting, kidnapping, rape, or robbery.
- Killing a law enforcement officer, corrections employee, probation or parole officer, firefighter, or judge, either on duty or because of duty-related actions.
- Murder for hire, covering both the person who kills and the person who pays.
- A defendant with a prior murder conviction.
- Burning, mutilating, torturing, dismembering, or decapitating the victim while the victim was still alive.
- A victim under 12 years old.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-9 – Death Penalty Sentencing Procedure
A victim’s age of 65 or older is a general sentencing aggravator in Indiana for any crime, but it is not in the capital sentencing statute. Only the aggravators listed in that statute can make a murder eligible for execution.
Who Cannot Be Sentenced to Death
Two categories of defendants are barred from execution under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Anyone who was under 18 at the time of the offense cannot be executed.2Justia Law. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 Indiana’s statute reflects this by listing age under 18 as a mitigating circumstance; a defendant who was at least 16 but under 18 can still face life without parole.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-9 – Death Penalty Sentencing Procedure
People with an intellectual disability also cannot be executed.3Justia Law. Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 Indiana bars the state from proceeding with a capital case if a court finds intellectual disability at a pretrial hearing, and the defendant bears the burden of proving it by clear and convincing evidence. Severe mental illness that falls short of intellectual disability is not an automatic exemption. It works as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
How a Death Sentence Gets Imposed
After a murder conviction, the same jury reconvenes for a separate sentencing hearing. To recommend death or life without parole, the jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one aggravating circumstance was proven, and that the aggravators outweigh the mitigators.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-9 – Death Penalty Sentencing Procedure
Mitigating factors the jury considers include no significant criminal history, extreme emotional disturbance, a minor role as an accomplice, acting under the domination of another person, impaired capacity from mental illness or intoxication, and a statutory catch-all covering any other circumstance the jury finds appropriate. If the jury deadlocks, the judge is dismissed and the court makes the sentencing decision using the same standard.
How Executions Are Carried Out
Indiana uses lethal injection as its only method. The statute requires intravenous injection of a lethal substance in a quantity sufficient to cause death. The law does not name specific drugs. The Department of Correction can contract with pharmacies, wholesale distributors, or compounding facilities to obtain them, and the substance provided must be labeled with its name, dosage, and projected expiration date and used only for executions.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-6-1 – Execution of Death Sentence; Specified Time and Date; Executioner; Lethal Injection The Department of Correction sets the specific protocol through its rulemaking authority.
Appeals and Clemency Before an Execution
Every death sentence in Indiana triggers an automatic review by the Indiana Supreme Court, which takes priority over all other cases on the docket. The court examines constitutional issues, jurisdiction, and whether the sentence exceeds what the law allows.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-50-2-9 – Death Penalty Sentencing Procedure The sentencing court must schedule execution no later than a year and a day after conviction, but if the Supreme Court has not finished its review by then, it stays the execution and sets a new date. These automatic appeals take years.
After the direct appeal, a condemned person can file for post-conviction relief on issues that could not have been raised on direct appeal, such as ineffective assistance of counsel. A defendant who has completed state post-conviction review can also petition the Supreme Court with newly discovered evidence. Federal habeas corpus review is available after state remedies are exhausted, subject to a one-year federal filing deadline.
The last step is clemency. The Indiana Parole Board holds a hearing where both sides, victims’ families, and members of the public can be heard, then issues a recommendation. The governor alone decides whether to commute the sentence to life in prison, grant a temporary reprieve, or deny clemency.
What Capital Cases Cost the State
A 2025 review by Indiana’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency found that trying a death penalty case costs roughly eight times more than a case seeking life without parole, at about $290,000 per capital trial compared to about $36,000. The difference reflects more extensive investigation, expert witnesses, a separate sentencing phase, and the lengthy mandatory appeals that follow every death sentence, whether an execution ever takes place or not.