Oregon Capital Punishment Laws

Capital punishment is technically legal in Oregon. The state may impose capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) when it convicts someone of aggravated murder.

Oregon law defines aggravated murder as murder with one or more aggravating factors. These factors include the following:

• Paying someone or accepting money to murder someone
• Committing murder in the course of torturing someone
• Killing more than one person in the same criminal episode
• If the person killed was a corrections officer and the murder was related to their duties

Per Oregon's Constitution, the state may also impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole for an aggravated murder conviction.

Although capital punishment is legal, the former Oregon governor placed a moratorium on Oregon's death penalty laws in 2011. As of 2024, the moratorium is still in effect.

The following table provides more details about Oregon's capital punishment laws. Below the table is a summary of the history of Oregon's use of capital punishment. See FindLaw's Death Penalty section for more articles and resources.

Note: State laws are always subject to change through the passage of new legislation, the opinions of appellate courts, or other means. Contact an Oregon criminal defense attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state laws you are researching.

History of Capital Punishment in Oregon

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Oregon adopted the death penalty in 1864. The first person executed was H.D. Egbert, who the state hanged at the Oregon State Penitentiary in 1904.

Oregon voters abolished the death penalty in 1914. Six years later, they voted to reinstate it.

In 1939, Oregon used the gas chamber for the first time. It ultimately executed 17 men via lethal gas.

Oregon executed Anthony Soto in 1964, who was 17 years old at the time. Soto was the youngest person executed in state history. Later that year, Oregon voters again voted to repeal the death penalty.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws mandating capital punishment were unconstitutional. (Furman v. Georgia). In 1976, the Court legalized capital punishment, ending the four-year moratorium. (Gregg v. Georgia). The ruling in Gregg allowed states to reinstate capital punishment within their borders.

In 1978, Oregonians voted to reinstate capital punishment again. The law sets lethal injection as the preferred method of execution. The state can't execute anyone under 18 or who has a "mental disease or defect."

During the period between 1978 and 2011, the Oregon Department of Corrections executed two people. The state's last execution was in 1997.

Recent Developments

Although capital punishment is technically still legal in Oregon, Governor John Kitzhaber announced a moratorium on death sentences in 2011. The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the moratorium in 2013. In 2015, Governor Kate Brown announced she planned to uphold and continue the moratorium during her term in office.

In 2019, the Oregon state legislature passed Senate Bill 1013, which amended Oregon's definition of first-degree murder and aggravated murder. Now, the death penalty only applies to aggravated murder, as defined in O.R.S. § 163.095.

Also, the Death Penalty Information Center notes that Senate Bill 1013 "eliminates speculation about a defendant's future dangerousness from a jury's capital sentencing deliberations."

In 2020, Oregon closed its death row. It also transferred all Oregon death row inmates into the general prison population. In 2022, Gov. Kate Brown granted clemency to all death row inmates, commuting their sentences to life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Related Resources for Capital Punishment Laws:

The following links provide more information about Oregon law and the death penalty.

• Oregon Law
• Official State Codes — Links to the official online statutes (laws) in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
• Oregon Criminal Laws
• Oregon Criminal Statute of Limitations Law
• Death Penalty
• History of Death Penalty Laws
• Developments in the Death Penalty
• Death Penalty Statistics
• Death Penalty Challenges

For more information about the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the death penalty, read The Eighth Amendment and the Death Penalty.

Contact an Attorney

If you face criminal charges in Oregon, contact a criminal defense attorney. An experienced attorney can provide valuable information about the following:

• Defense strategies for an upcoming criminal trial
• General information about the criminal justice system
• Whether to engage in plea bargain negotiations

Contact a criminal defense lawyer today to ensure you receive the best defense possible in your criminal case.