Former Kansas Corrections Officials Call for Governor to Commute Death Sentences

In a September 2, 2026, op-ed pub­lished in the Topeka Capital-Journal, Roger Werholtz, who served as Kansas Secretary of Corrections from 2003 to 2010, calls on Governor Laura Kelly to com­mute the sen­tences of the nine men on Kansas’ death row to life with­out parole. Writing as a for­mer cor­rec­tions offi­cial with expe­ri­ence in both Kansas and Colorado, Mr. Werholtz notes that the state has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 1965, yet ​“Kansas has not been plagued by crime despite con­duct­ing no exe­cu­tions over the past 61 years.” By com­mut­ing these death sen­tences, the gov­er­nor ​“would sim­ply acknowl­edge the real­i­ty we have lived with for decades.”

Mr. Werholtz notes that while there are ​“indi­vid­u­als who need to be removed from our com­mu­ni­ties for the rest of their lives,” the death penal­ty ​“is a drain on scarce resources” and that the resources cur­rent­ly focused on the death penal­ty in Kansas would be bet­ter used to make cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ties more secure. During his time as inter­im direc­tor of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Mr. Werholtz met with the fam­i­ly mem­bers of two cor­rec­tions offi­cers killed in the line of duty, both of whom were opposed to the death penal­ty. He recalls that both fam­i­lies pre­ferred that the state spend mon­ey staffing pris­ons and mak­ing them more secure, rather than attempt­ing to obtain a death sentence.

The op-ed also rais­es ques­tions about offi­cial mis­con­duct and exon­er­a­tions, with Mr. Werholtz not­ing that ​“there are too many exon­er­at­ed indi­vid­u­als who can bear wit­ness to this” mis­con­duct. He also notes that exe­cu­tions put cor­rec­tion­al staff at risk for trau­ma and harm. Pointing to con­ver­sa­tions he had with oth­er cor­rec­tions offi­cials dur­ing his tenure, Mr. Werholtz notes that these indi­vid­u­als ​“described the last­ing trau­ma both from par­tic­i­pa­tion in and prox­im­i­ty to the method­i­cal killing of a pris­on­er.” Academic research shows ​“increas­es in depres­sion, anx­i­ety, sui­ci­dal­i­ty, sub­stance abuse and domes­tic vio­lence among exe­cu­tion team mem­bers” and those involved in the entire exe­cu­tion process. By com­mut­ing these death sen­tences, Mr. Werholtz asserts that Gov. Kelly will spare cor­rec­tions offi­cials in Kansas from ​“this dan­ger” going forward.

The same day the op-ed was pub­lished, a group of cor­rec­tions pro­fes­sion­als spoke out­side of the Kansas Statehouse, ampli­fy­ing the push for com­mu­ta­tion. Robert Sanders, for­mer mem­ber of the Kansas Parole Board told those at the state­house that ​“the death penal­ty does not make us safer…not in our com­mu­ni­ties or in our cor­rec­tion­al insti­tu­tions.” In a for­mal let­ter sub­mit­ted to Gov. Kelly, the group wrote: ​“As for­mer cor­rec­tions pro­fes­sion­als and admin­is­tra­tors, we urge you to com­mute all death sen­tences in Kansas to life with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole, a deci­sion that would have pro­found pos­i­tive impli­ca­tions for the Kansas Department of Corrections. We know that the resump­tion of exe­cu­tions could have a last­ing impact on the lives of the per­son­nel who are asked to car­ry them out…We have heard reports from col­leagues and read detailed accounts in the media about the toll it has tak­en on our fel­low cor­rec­tions pro­fes­sion­als…” Speaking at the state­house, Mr. Sanders added that the group ​“want[s] to make sure that we do every­thing we can to get [Gov. Kelly] the infor­ma­tion that she needs to make a decision.”

The let­ter fol­lows efforts from faith lead­ers in July 2026, who sim­i­lar­ly deliv­ered a let­ter to Gov. Kelly call­ing for her to com­mute all death sen­tences. A group of more than 50 faith lead­ers deliv­ered a let­ter that read, “[o]ur faith tra­di­tions teach that every human being pos­sess­es inher­ent worth and remains capa­ble of change.” The faith lead­ers added that “[e]ven in the most dif­fi­cult cas­es, mer­cy and account­abil­i­ty need not be in con­flict. A sen­tence of life impris­on­ment with­out parole ensures pub­lic safe­ty while pre­serv­ing the pos­si­bil­i­ty of redemp­tion and affirm­ing the val­ue of life.”

During sum­mer 2026, Gov. Kelly denied the clemen­cy requests of three men on Kansas’ death row: Reginald Carr, Jonathan Carr, and John Robinson. Kansas rein­stat­ed the death penal­ty in 1994 but has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 1965.