On October 30, 2019, Governor DeWine granted reprieves for death-row inmates James Galen Hanna and Kareem Jackson because of ongoing issues with finding execution drugs. He stated:

“The reality is that we are pretty much at a standstill in this area. I felt it was important to reprieve two simply because it’s important for the Department of [Rehabilitation and] Correction and the people who work there not to have to go through all the lead up to an execution. There’s a real protocol that they have to follow, they have to start so many days out and practice, and this is very tough on them. This is a tough, tough thing for the people who work at the department of corrections.”

 Hanna’s execution date has been moved back from Dec. 11 to July 16, 2020. Jackson’s execution date was postponed from Jan. 16, 2020 to Sept. 16, 2020.

The reason given for the reprieves is the state’s continuing problemswith finding a pharmaceutical company willing to sell drugs for use in executions. The governor has repeatedly expressed his concern that if companies find that Ohio used its drugs to put people to death, they will refuse to sell any of its drugs (not just the ones used in executions) to the state. That would endanger the ability of thousands of Ohioans – such as Medicaid recipients, state troopers, and prison inmates – to get drugs through state programs.

DeWine’s announcement means that the next death-row inmate set to die is Gregory Lott on March 12, 2020.