From 1735 until 1924, persons condemned to death were hanged by the sheriff of the county or judicial circuit where the crime occurred. Over 500 of such hangings had occurred. The Georgia General Assembly passed a law on August 16, 1924 that abolished hanging for all capital crimes. Instead the condemned were to be electrocuted at the old Georgia State Prison at Milledgeville. During that year an electric chair was installed in the prison, and the first execution by that method was conducted on September 13, 1924.