PHOENIX — A Senate panel voted Tuesday to recommend confirmation of a new head of the state prison system after he assured them his agency is ready to again start executing inmates on death row.
But it will be months — if not longer — until that happens. And that has to do with policies set by Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The issue of the willingness of Ryan Thornell 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 agency was not prepared to put Aaron Gunches to death as scheduled on April 6.
