Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 501 - JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY CABINET - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › Chapter 16 - Capital Punishment › Section 501 KAR 16:340 - Electrocution protocol

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				196.030,
				196.070,
				196.180,
				431.213-431.270
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				196.035 and
				197.020
				authorize the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and Department of Corrections to
				promulgate administrative regulations necessary and suitable for the proper
				administration of the cabinet or any of its divisions.
				KRS
				431.220 establishes requirements for the execution
				of the death penalty. This administrative regulation establishes the protocol for
				execution by electrocution.
Section 1.
			 Preliminary Steps.
(1) The penitentiary shall have
			 a minimum of three (3) phones that may be used simultaneously available for
			 communication with the courts and counsel on the day of execution. The warden shall
			 determine if necessary phones are operational prior to the execution.
(2) The electrocution equipment shall be designed
			 to deliver approximately five (5) to ten (10) amps depending upon the condemned
			 person's physique at the designed voltage.
(3) The electrocution equipment shall be checked
			 and tested in accordance with
			 501 KAR
			 16:320, Section 3(3), within forty-eight (48) hours of the
			 time scheduled for an execution by electrocution.
(4) A sodium chloride solution shall be made by a
			 member of the execution team within five (5) hours prior to the time scheduled for
			 an execution by electrocution by the following:
(a)
			 Approximately five (5) gallons of water at room temperature shall be placed in a
			 container; and
(b) Up to 128 ounces of
			 iodized table salt shall be slowly added to the water while continuously mixing
			 until the water will not visibly absorb salt. Sufficient absorption is observed when
			 the salt will not dissolve in the water and visibly collects at the bottom of the
			 container.
(5) Natural sea
			 sponges for the head and leg electrodes shall be prepared by soaking them in the
			 sodium chloride solution until they are saturated.
(6) If the penitentiary does not have power when
			 the execution is scheduled to commence, the generator for the execution building
			 shall be started.
(7) The condemned
			 person's head and one (1) leg shall be shaved on the day of execution.
(8) The warden shall order the condemned person
			 escorted to the execution chamber and strapped in the chair.
(9) The warden shall order the viewing curtain
			 opened.
(10) The warden shall announce
			 the execution to the witnesses.
(11) The
			 warden shall ask the condemned person if he wants to make a final statement. If a
			 statement is made by the condemned person, it shall be limited to two (2) minutes.
			 The witnesses shall be allowed to hear the condemned person's statement.
(12) The warden shall announce the final
			 preparations for the execution to the witnesses.
(13) The viewing curtain shall be
			 closed.
(14) The execution team members
			 shall:
(a) Attach the chin strap to the condemned
			 person;
(b) Attach the head gear to the
			 condemned person;
(c) Attach the leg
			 band to the condemned person;
(d) Adjust
			 the back board;
(e) Attach the cables
			 from the electrocution equipment to the head and leg electrodes with the nuts
			 sufficiently tightened to ensure a firm connection;
(f) Wipe any salt water released from the sponges
			 from condemned person's head and leg; and
(g) Secure the condemned person's leather face
			 covering.
(15) The warden
			 shall make a visual check of connections and straps.
(16) The execution team shall exit the execution
			 chamber.
(17) The viewing curtain shall
			 be opened.
(18) The warden shall:
(a) Announce the execution of the condemned person
			 to the witnesses; and
(b) Pull the face
			 covering over the condemned person's face.
(19) All persons except the condemned person shall
			 exit the execution chamber.
(20) Counsel
			 assigned by the cabinet, and counsel assigned by the Attorney General shall be asked
			 whether any stays, orders, pardons, or commutations of sentence have been
			 received.