PHOENIX — The Arizona Attorney General's Office has indicated that it may resume seeking executions for death row inmates by the first quarter of 2025.
Back in January 2023, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced she was halting executions until the state could complete an independent review of the death penalty.
Arizona went about eight years of not carrying out executions after the 2014 execution of Joseph Wood took almost two hours to complete.
In a letter recently sent to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, Mayes indicated her office could soon start seeking execution warrants.
"I intend to begin seeking warrants no later than the first quarter of 2025, so long as (the corrections department) is capable of carrying out a lawful execution at that time," Mayes, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to Mitchell.
Until then, Mayes wrote her office will continue defending death sentences in appellate proceedings.
Mitchell, a Republican, wrote back to Mayes that her promise to resume executions seems "hollow" and that the corrections department should be ready to proceed.
"By going along with these delay tactics, you are supporting a false narrative of 'botched' executions," Mitchell wrote.
The AG's office released the two letters Friday afternoon.
*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast*
UP TO SPEED
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.