The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Florida (or in Florida prior to statehood) before 1972, when capital punishment was briefly abolished by the Supreme Court's ruling in Furman v. Georgia. For people executed by Florida after capital punishment was restored by the Supreme Court's ruling in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), see List of people executed in Florida.
The following persons were executed in West and East Florida under British rule (1763âÂÂ1783):
In 1822, the Legislative Council declared murder, rape, and arson to be capital crimes. During this period, executions were carried out by hanging locally in the county where the defendants were convicted. From 1847 to 1872, executions were required to be public, but were mostly moved to jail facilities afterwards. County sheriffs were also required to act as executioners.
The following executions took place from January 10, 1861, to June 25, 1868, when Florida seceded to the Confederacy during the Civil War.
In 1923, the state legislature passed a new law, written by Fred H. Davis, switching the official execution method from hanging to electrocution. This new method required executions to be moved from local jails to a permanent execution chamber in state prison facilities. Despite an early challenge in July 1929 by the circuit court of Union County over the prison superintendent being named a secondary executioner (as he was not elected or appointed), the electrocution law was held up by the state supreme court in November 1930. Sheriffs were still required to perform as primary executioners during this period until 1941, when a new law designated the state prison's first assistant engineer as the executioner. Two further hangings would also take place by exception.