Kansas Governor Edward W. Hoch of Topeka responds to a request by Rev. A. B. Wolfe of Kiester, Minnesota, for information on the death penalty in Kansas. Hoch describes the 1872 state law requiring a governor's order for state executions. He notes that this law effectively abolished the death penalty in Kansas since governors between 1872-1907 refused to issue execution orders. Hoch claims his strong opposition to capital punishment played a key role in the 1907 state law repealing the death penalty in Kansas. Kansas did not reinstate capital punishment until 1935, and the U. S. Supreme Court declared that law unconstitutional in 1972.