The last female executed was in North Carolina in 1984. Between 1973 and 1993, 96 female death sentences were imposed, only 2 percent of the total of about 4,824 death sentences for all offenders. The death sentencing rate for female offenders was about five per year beginning in the 1980's. In 1989, this annual death sentencing rate doubled for unknown reasons. In 1990 and 1991, the sentencing rate seemed to return to just above pre-1989 levels. The rate then surged to 10 in 1992, portending an annual rate nearly double that of the 1980's. Of the 96 death sentences for female offenders, only 36 sentences imposed on females (38 percent) remain in effect. One sentence resulted in the 1984 execution, while the other death sentences have been reversed or commuted to life imprisonment. The 33 female offenders on death row constitute only 1.2 percent of the total death row population of 2,729 and only 0.07 percent of the approximately 50,000 women in prison in the United States. Data on characteristics of offenders and victims in female death penalty cases are provided. Appendixes contain a list of female death sentences imposed between 1973 and 1993 and case summaries for current female death row inmates. 2 tables