Tennessee could resume executions by end of year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After a more than two-year pause , Tennessee could resume executing prisoners on death row by the end of this year, according to the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction, Frank Strada.

In testimony during a subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Strada told lawmakers he expects TDOC to complete its new execution protocol by the end of the calendar year.

Executions have been paused in Tennessee since April 2022 , when Gov. Bill Lee ordered they be put on hold after a report and lawsuits revealed the state wasn’t testing the lethal injection drugs, required by its own protocol, among other concerns.

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Lee ordered that no one be put to death in the state until TDOC can draft a new execution protocol.

“I’ve told the department, take all the time you need to develop this thing exactly as it should be because it matters very much to Tennesseans,” Lee said in January 2024.

Wednesday, Strada told lawmakers TDOC’s new protocol was close to being complete.

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“We’ve been working with the Attorney General’s Office on writing those protocols and making sure they’re sound,” Strada said. “We feel like we’ll have a product to produce by the end of this calendar year.”

Lawmakers asked if the “holdup” was related to developing the new protocol, or if the department was struggling to find enough supply of the lethal injection drug, which has been an issue in many other states.

“I wouldn’t want to say it’s a holdup, it’s just a collaboration with us and the Attorney General and scheduling time with their office and our office on calendars, because it’s a long process,” Strada said. “I think it’s more of the protocols and making sure they’re tight and right and within the law.”

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