MONTGOMERY — Following three months of paused executions in Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey gave the nod to proceed with carrying out planned executions.

Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said in a Feb. 24 letter to Ivey that the DOC has completed its “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s execution process as directed by Ivey in November 2022 after a series of botched lethal injections.

“I am confident that the department is as ready as possible to deliver closure for victims’ families and justice for all Alabamian,” Hamm said in the letter.

He said the review entailed communications with corrections personnel from other states who are involved with executions, and reviews of execution procedures from multiple states “to ensure our process aligns with the best practices in other jurisdictions.”

According to Hamm’s letter to Ivey, the DOC is planning to implement the following changes going forward for executions:

• A new Supreme Court of Alabama rule now allows the governor to set a time frame for an execution to occur. Prior to the new rule, executions would have to completed by midnight on a designated day. Hamm said the new change will make it harder for inmates to “run out the clock” with last-minute appeals and requests for stays of executions.

• The DOC plans to add more medical personnel for executions. According to Hamm, the department will begin vetting outside medical professionals immediately and has received new medical equipment available for executions. Department of corrections are often secret on the background or training of persons performing the executions.

• Hamm said staff has conducted “multiple” rehearsals of the execution process in recent months to ensure staff is well-trained and prepared to perform their duties. Trainings and rehearsal procedures will continue to be updated, he said.

“I am confident the Department is as prepared as possible to resume carrying out executions consistent with the mandates of the Constitution,” Hamm stated. “This is true in spite of the fact that death row inmates will continue to evade their lawfully imposed death sentences.”

Following Hamm’s update, Ivey asked Attorney General Steve Marshall to ask the Supreme Court to issue an execution warrant for an eligible death row inmate whenever he deems appropriate.

Ivey on Nov. 21 asked Marshall to withdraw the state’s two pending motions to set execution dates in the cases of Alan Eugene Miller and James Edward Barber, the only two death row inmates with such motions currently pending before the Alabama Supreme Court, according to a release from the state.

Ivey’s pause on executions came after complications during three lethal injections this year alone, two of which were subsequently halted.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was set to be executed Nov. 17, but after Department of Corrections staff spent an hour trying to set IV lines for the lethal injection drugs, his execution was halted. Similar problems arose in the planned Sept. 22, execution of Miller that was also unsuccessful. Joe Nathan James Jr.’s execution on July 28 lasted more than three hours before he died.

Attorneys for Smith are currently fighting against a second attempt at Smith’s execution, stating in a lawsuit: “To subject Mr. Smith to a second execution by lethal injection would subject him to a torturous experience of unnecessary physical and psychological pain, as has been established through Alabama’s last three execution attempts. Therefore, any further attempts to execute Mr. Smith would violate the Eighth Amendment.”