Any person convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to death shall be executed in accordance with G.S. 15-188 and the remainder of this Article. The default method of executing a death sentence shall be as described in G.S. 15-188(a). However, if the method adopted in G.S. 15-188(a) is declared unconstitutional by a North Carolina court of competent jurisdiction then the provisions in G.S. 15-188(b) shall apply. The warden of Central Prison may obtain and employ the drugs and equipment necessary to carry out the provisions of this Article, regardless of contrary provisions in Chapter 90 of the General Statutes; however, if the method of executing a death under G.S. 15-188(a) is unavailable for any other reason, then the provisions in G.S. 15-188(b) shall apply.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15-187
Death penalty
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Baze v. Rees (2008)
Most recently applied in Baze v. Rees (April 2008)
1909, ch. 443, s. 1; C.S., s. 4657; 1935, c. 294, s. 1; 1983, c. 678, ss. 1, 4; 1998-212, s. 17.22(a); 2015-198, s. 5; 2025-93, s. 6.5(a).
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: North Carolina General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain North Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.