Arizona ready to resume executions, nominee to head prisons says

PHOENIX — A GOP-led Senate panel voted Tuesday to recommend confirmation of a new head of the state prison system after he assured them his department is ready to again start executing inmates on death row.

It will be months if not longer until executions resume, however, due to policies set by Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, Democrats who took office in January.  

The issue of Ryan Thornell's willingness to carry out the ultimate penalty is crucial to lawmakers because he was the one who told the Arizona Supreme Court earlier this year his department was not prepared to put Aaron Gunches to death as scheduled on April 6.

In a March 15 affidavit, Thornell, Hobbs' choice to head the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, told the justices that when he took over in January he lacked information on everything from how executions were carried out in the past, to questions about whether there are people available with the expertise to insert intravenous lines to administer the lethal drugs.

There were also issues about whether the drugs could be prepared, he said.

"My inquiries have revealed cause for concern with the department's present ability to carry out an execution consistent with its constitutional and legal obligations,'' Thornell told the court.

As a result, the original warrant expired and the Supreme Court refused to extend the date. Gunches, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2002 death of Mesa resident Ted Price, remains incarcerated.

'Authorization, not an order'

Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who heads the committee tasked with reviewing the governor's nominations to head state agencies, asked Thornell whether he was disregarding the warrant to execute Gunches.

"We want departments and department heads, specifically, that will follow the law,'' Hoffman said.

Thornell said he did no such thing. "The warrant of execution was an authorization, not an order,'' allowing — but not requiring — his department to execute Gunches, he told Hoffman. He said that position was backed by the governor and attorney general.

With no active warrants against Gunches or any other inmates on death row, that returned the situation to the way it was in January, when Hobbs issued an executive order to study the processes and procedures used to put people to death.

Arizona resumed executions last year after an eight-year pause following a botched procedure when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over two hours. Three inmates were put to death in 2022.

Study ordered by Hobbs  

Hobbs, in ordering the study, said the process has remained plagued by questions. "Recent executions have been embroiled in controversy,'' she said.

There were reports that prison employees had repeated problems in placing intravenous lines into the veins of condemned men.

"The death penalty is a controversial issue to begin with,'' Hobbs said. "We just want to make sure the practices are sound and that we don't end up with botched executions like we've seen recently.''

Hobbs appointed David Duncan, a retired federal magistrate, to conduct the study. She has not placed any deadline on Duncan to report, meaning no one will be executed at least until that is done.

Mayes, in tandem, announced she would not seek additional warrants until that study is completed.

Issues resolved, nominee says

Thornell assured lawmakers he's not the one standing in the way of executions. He said the issues that left his department unprepared to put Gunches to death in April have been resolved.

"We have gone through all of our review, all of our preparation,'' he said. That includes putting the necessary staff in place and contacting the individuals who can insert the intravenous lines, ensure they work, and monitor administration of the drugs.

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The final step, Thornell said, depends on the Arizona Supreme Court issuing a new warrant of execution, whether for Gunches or any of the other 107 men and three women on death row.

Compounding of the necessary drugs needs to be properly timed because of the shelf life of the  chemicals, he said.

Thornell reassured lawmakers that, while he came to Arizona from the Maine prison system, which has no death penalty, he is not opposed to executions. 

The nominee, who now needs a vote of the full Republican-led Senate to be confirmed, faced other questions Tuesday, as well.  

Questions on rehab, use of force  

Hoffman said he understands that the goal of providing educational opportunities for inmates is to help them "pull themselves up so they don't end up coming back in.'' But he questioned why the state should spend money on felons.

"People that haven't been incarcerated are expected to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps'' without state dollars, Hoffman said. 

"It's what our responsibility is,'' Thornell responded, noting the word "rehabilitation'' was added to the name of the department in 2020 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican.

"I understand there's always going to be public perspective that people who are incarcerated don't deserve any opportunities, access to things,'' Thornell said. "But if we're going to reduce future victims, if we're going to reduce recidivism, the only way to do that while they're incarcerated with us is, we have to invest the resources.''

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, questioned Thornell's views on the use of force to keep order and discipline within the prison system.

"You can't say, 'Do that again, I'm going to throw you in prison' because they're already there,'' said Kavanagh, a former police officer. That often leaves solitary confinement as the option, Kavanagh said. 

"I firmly support the use of force,'' Thornell responded. "It is necessary. We are incarcerating felons, dangerous felons.''

But he said there are a "whole host of strategies'' that can be employed in a prison to keep order.

"It doesn't always have to result in a placement in solitary confinement or a removal from the general population,'' Thornell said.

A system can provide incentives for good behavior, he said. "They earn their way toward release, they earn their way towards televisions, communications devices, technology access,'' he said.

Still, Thornell said, solitary confinement must be in the mix.

"It's been over-utilized in the past, which is why it's been focused on significantly in recent years,'' he said. "What I see solitary confinement, restrictive housing, being used for here is in response to dangerous incidents, dangerous individuals, incidents that threaten other inmates, that threaten staff.

"And then we use it for the duration that's necessary and then they go back out into general population and get put into an environment where they then have to earn their incentives back.''

Thornell acknowledged there is a separate problem of actions by corrections officers.

"There has been a string in the last 60 days of use-of-force incidents in our complexes that went outside the scope of our use-of-force policies,'' he said. He said these have occurred  in the prisons run and staffed by the state, as well as in the private prisons that have contracts to house inmates.

"I do not take that lightly,'' he told lawmakers.