Kentucky Governor Cites Constitutional Concerns with Execution Protocol and Drug Acquisition Issues in Refusal to Set Execution Date | Death Penalty Information Center

Kentucky Governor Cites Constitutional Concerns with Execution Protocol and Drug Acquisition Issues in Refusal to Set Execution Date | Death Penalty Information Center

In June 2025, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman request­ed that Governor Andy Beshear set an exe­cu­tion date for death row pris­on­er Ralph Baze. In a late June 2025 reply, Gov. Beshear declined to do so because of an April 2025 Franklin County Circuit Court rul­ing that found part of Kentucky’s exe­cu­tion pro­to­col uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. Gov. Beshear indi­cat­ed that sev­er­al steps must be tak­en by the Department of Corrections (DOC…