Exonerations by County | National Registry of Exonerations

Table 1. Counties with 10 or more exonerations ranked by total number of exonerations.

Rank	County	State	Number of Exonerations	Exonerations/100,000 population	Standardized exoneration rate/100,000
1	Cook	Illinois	488	9.59	8.64
2	Harris	Texas	232	4.80	4.32
3	Los Angeles	California	137	1.42	1.28
4	Wayne	Michigan	101	5.77	5.20
5	Kings	New York	96	3.63	3.27
6	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	91	5.67	5.11
7	Dallas	Texas	71	2.72	2.45
8	Bronx	New York	54	3.67	3.30
9	New York	New York	53	3.13	2.82
10	Queens	New York	47	1.95	1.76
11	Orleans	Louisiana	45	11.72	10.56
12	Cuyahoga	Ohio	42	3.32	2.99
13	Suffolk	Massachusetts	41	5.14	4.63
14	Baltimore City	Maryland	36	4.26	3.84
15	Swisher	Texas	35	502.08	452.32
16	Camden	New Jersey	29	5.50	4.96
17	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	27	2.87	2.59
18	Kern	California	26	2.86	2.58
19	Bexar	Texas	25	1.24	1.12
20		District of Columbia	23	3.34	3.00
21	New Haven	Connecticut	20	2.31	2.08
22	Orange	California	18	0.56	0.51
22	San Diego	California	18	0.55	0.49
24	Erie	New York	17	1.78	1.60
24	Clark	Nevada	17	0.73	0.66
26	Tulsa	Oklahoma	16	2.39	2.15
27	Travis	Texas	15	1.12	1.01
28	Franklin	Ohio	14	1.06	0.95
28	Santa Clara	California	14	0.72	0.65
30	Jefferson	Louisiana	13	2.95	2.66
30	Montgomery	Texas	13	1.83	1.65
30	Multnomah	Oregon	13	1.59	1.44
30	Broward	Florida	13	0.67	0.60
30	Miami-Dade	Florida	13	0.48	0.44
35	Norfolk City	Virginia	12	5.04	4.54
35	Jefferson	Alabama	12	1.78	1.60
35	Monroe	New York	12	1.58	1.42
35	Westchester	New York	12	1.19	1.08
35	Oakland	Michigan	12	0.94	0.85
35	Suffolk	New York	12	0.79	0.71
41	Chelan	Washington	11	13.75	12.39
41	New Hanover	North Carolina	11	4.87	4.39
41	Lake	Illinois	11	1.54	1.39
41	Oklahoma	Oklahoma	11	1.36	1.23
41	Hillsborough	Florida	11	0.75	0.68
41	Maricopa	Arizona	11	0.24	0.22
47	McLennan	Texas	10	3.84	3.46
47	Hampden	Massachusetts	10	2.15	1.93
47	Jackson	Missouri	10	1.39	1.25
47	Hamilton	Ohio	10	1.21	1.09
47	Essex	New Jersey	10	1.16	1.04
47	DuPage	Illinois	10	1.07	0.97
47	Allegheny	Pennsylvania	10	0.82	0.74
47	Hennepin	Minnesota	10	0.78	0.70
47	Middlesex	Massachusetts	10	0.61	0.55

Table 2. Counties with populations of 300,000 or greater and exoneration rates higher than the national average, ranked by standardized rate per capita.

Rank	County-State	Number of Exonerations	Exonerations/100,000 population	Standardized exoneration rate/100,000
1	Orleans Parish, Louisiana	45	11.72	10.56
2	Cook County, Illinois	488	9.59	8.64
3	Wayne County, Michigan	101	5.77	5.20
4	Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania	91	5.67	5.11
5	Camden County, New Jersey	29	5.50	4.96
6	Suffolk County, Massachusetts	41	5.14	4.63
7	Harris County, Texas	232	4.80	4.32
8	Baltimore City, Maryland	36	4.26	3.84
9	Bronx County, New York	54	3.67	3.30
10	Kings County, New York	96	3.63	3.27
11	District of Columbia	23	3.34	3.00
12	Cuyahoga County, Ohio	42	3.32	2.99
13	New York County, New York	53	3.13	2.82
14	Jefferson Parish, Louisiana	13	2.95	2.66
15	Milwaukee County, Wisconsin	27	2.87	2.59
16	Kern County, California	26	2.86	2.58
17	Dallas County, Texas	71	2.72	2.45
18	Tulsa County, Oklahoma	16	2.39	2.15
19	New Haven County, Connecticut	20	2.31	2.08
20	Genesee County, Michigan	9	2.22	2.00
21	Hampden County, Massachusetts	10	2.15	1.93
22	Lucas County, Ohio	9	2.10	1.89
23	Marion County, Oregon	7	2.02	1.82
24	Queens County, New York	47	1.95	1.76
25	Durham County, North Carolina	6	1.85	1.66
26	Montgomery County, Texas	13	1.83	1.65
27	Erie County, New York	17	1.78	1.60
28	Jefferson County, Alabama	12	1.78	1.60
29	Clark County, Washington	9	1.73	1.56
30	Galveston County, Texas	6	1.69	1.52
31	Lorain County, Ohio	5	1.60	1.44
32	Multnomah County, Oregon	13	1.59	1.44
33	Monroe County, New York	12	1.58	1.42
34	Lake County, Illinois	11	1.54	1.39
35	Plymouth County, Massachusetts	8	1.51	1.36
36	Los Angeles County, California	137	1.42	1.28
37	Jackson County, Missouri	10	1.39	1.25
38	Oklahoma County, Oklahoma	11	1.36	1.23
39	Lubbock County, Texas	4	1.29	1.16
40	Manatee County, Florida	5	1.25	1.13
41	Bexar County, Texas	25	1.24	1.12
42	Union County, New Jersey	7	1.22	1.10
43	Hamilton County, Ohio	10	1.21	1.09
44	Lake County, Indiana	6	1.20	1.08
45	Westchester County, New York	12	1.19	1.08
46	Essex County, New Jersey	10	1.16	1.04
47	Nueces County, Texas	4	1.13	1.02
48	Travis County, Texas	15	1.12	1.01

Notes: Tables were calculated based on data current as of July 17, 2025, when the Registry contained 3,711 individual exonerations since 1989. The Standardized Rate of Exonerations Per Capita is the raw number of exonerations per 100,000 people divided by the national average of 1.11 exonerations per 100,000 people. Thus, the Standardized Rate Per Capita for the nation as a whole is 1.00, by definition; and the rate for Cook County, Illinois, for example, means that Illinois had 8.64 times more exonerations per capita than the national average. All calculations are based on 2023 population data, which reported a national population of 333,287,557. "Counties" include county-equivalents, such as the District of Columbia and Baltimore City.