Arizona Attorney General Announces State Ready to Resume Executions as Governor Hobbs Abruptly Ends Independent Review of Execution Protocols

On November 26, 2024, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her office will resume seeking execution warrants. AG Mayes’ announcement comes after Governor Katie Hobbs ended the state’s independent review of its execution protocol and processes, dismissing retired federal magistrate David Duncan before he had completed his review. In a letter to Judge Duncan, Gov. Hobbs said his actions during the review went beyond his mandate. The review was launched in 2023, as newly elected Gov. Hobbs issued a temporary pause on executions, in response to multiple botched executions the previous year.

The AG’s decision to resume seeking death warrants, which has the support of Gov. Hobbs, was predicated on another review of execution protocols, this one by Director of Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR), Ryan Thornell. Director Thornell said ADCRR’s changes will include new training requirements, a new medical team, more thorough documentation of the execution protocol, a shorter “death watch,” as well as changes to procurement rules for lethal drugs. In a statement, AG Mayes said that she is “confident that executions can now proceed in compliance with state and federal law.” 

In May 2024, AG Mayes indicated executions would resume by early 2025. In her November announcement she said, “In accordance with that timeline, I plan to move forward and request an execution warrant from the Arizona Supreme Court in the coming weeks for Aaron Brian Gunches, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Ted Price.”

Judge Duncan asserts that he was dismissed, and his independent review halted, after he had interviewed the medical director responsible for the three botched executions in 2022, who told him that both the director and a paramedic participating the executions were paid $20,000 cash for each execution. Judge Duncan inquired into the tax status of these payments, including requesting records from the ADCRR, who did respond to his request. Gov. Hobbs denies this was the reason for Duncan’s dismissal, and says she considers that with the new ADCRR protocols, “ADCRR is prepared to conduct an execution that complies with the legal requirements if an execution warrant is issued,” said Gov. Hobbs.

Among the new protocols that the ADCRR will be following, the execution staff will be augmented by a new medical team that will include a phlebotomist, an expert in drawing blood, to prevent previous issues with botched IV-line insertions. The ADCRR review also noted that previous executions have seen “inconsistency” in decision-making processes and communication with the medical team, but going forward the ADCRR leadership “will not make decisions without the advice of the trained and qualified medical/IV team.” Mr. Thornell also noted ADCRR will fully comply with federal regulations to acquire pentobarbital for executions, something the department had failed to do in the past. In 2015, Arizona spent $27,000 to procure 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental to use in executions from a supplier in India, after domestic producers would not sell the drug for executions. The drugs were seized by the US Customs and Border Protection in Phoenix after the Federal Food and Drug Administration warned ADCRR that the purchase was illegal.