Capital punishment in South Carolina

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Between 1718 and 2021, more than 680 people have been executed in South Carolina. After the nationwide capital punishment ban was overturned in 1976, South Carolina has executed 43 people.

Since 2011, no one has been executed in the state due to pharmaceutical companies not wanting to sell the drugs needed for lethal injections. Lethal injection has been the legalized primary form of execution since 1995. Under the passage of Act 43 of 2021, executions are expected to resume with the electric chair as the primary form of execution. In March 2022, the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced they were ready to carry out executions by firing squad. Inmates will now have the choice to be executed via electrocution or firing squad; with electrocution being the primary method.