|
Year of Reenactment
(since 1972 suspension) |
1973 | |
|
Year of First Execution
(since reenactment) |
1990 | |
|
History
|
1894-1912: hanging  1913-1982: electrocution 1983-present: lethal injection or electrocution |
|
|
Current Method
|
Lethal injection Choice of lethal injection, or electrocution if the inmate was sentenced before 7/4/83. |
|
|
|
|
Arkansas has life without parole. A jury decides the sentence. The Governor has the sole authority to grant clemency. However, all clemency application must be referred to the Parole Board for investigation and non-binding recommendation.
Governor Mike Huckabee commuted the death sentence of Bobby Ray Fretwell to life without parole in 1999. One of the jurors from the original trial had contacted the governor and said that Fretwell had not received an adequate defense and that the juror had gone along with the rest of the jurors in the death sentence because he feared being shunned by the community.