Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a motion with the Department of Corrections to request the next seven execution dates be pushed back by 60 days, changing the current schedule from one execution every month to one every two months.
Drummond says the current pace of executions is unsustainable for DOC personnel, and more time between executions is needed to allow for the intense training and preparation required to carry out the state’s highest punishment.
If granted, the request would push back executions scheduled for Richard Eugene Glossip, Jemaine Monteil Cannon, Anthony Castillo Sanchez, Phillip Dean Hancock, James Chandler Ryder, Michael Dewayne Smith and Wade Greely Lay.
Drummond also says he spoke to the families of the victims of the seven death row inmates before filing the motion to explain his request.
Last week, the state put Scott Eizember to death, and Drummond says he attended the execution in one of his first major moves as Oklahoma’s top law enforcement official.
Currently, the next execution is scheduled on Feb. 16 for Richard Glossip.