LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time in 15 years, Indiana executed a death-row inmate. 49-year-old Joseph Corcoran killed four people, including his brother. 

What You Need To Know

  • For the first time in 15 years, Indiana carried out the execution of a death-row inmate

  • Kentucky has 25 prisons on death row

  • The state has carried out three executions since 1976, but none since 2008

  • An injuction blocking lethal injections went into effect in 2010 and despite efforts from Attorney General Russell Coleman, the injunction remains

There are 25 people on death row in Kentucky, according to Kentucky’s Department of Corrections. Kentucky prisons have executed three people since 1976, but none since 2008.

Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued an injunction blocking Kentucky’s lethal injunctions in 2010.

State Senator John Schickel, R-Union, is a senior member of the judiciary committee and a retired police officer. He said he favors the death penalty. “It’s the law, it’s the current law.”

Schickel, whose district is in northern Kentucky, explained, “I think there are some crimes where the death penalty is appropriate. Of course, that’s always up to a jury. I favor that also in Kentucky. Kentucky is one of the states where the jury actually sets the penalty and I think that’s the way it should be.”

In May, 2024 Attorney General Russell Coleman, R-Ky., asked Shepherd to reverse his decision, but he declined saying there were constitutional questions needing to be settled before allowing injections to be carried out. Coleman asked again Wednesday to end the 15-year ban.

Schickel said, “I was happy to see him take action. It’s long overdue. I had actually talked to him [Coleman] about it when he was running for office and had sent him a letter since he was elected, urging him to do that. The law is the law and we’ve basically been ignoring the law. I think it’s time we file the law and that these criminals are brought to justice.”

Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., was asked about the injunction and the future of the death penalty in Kentucky. He said, “We have a duty under the law to try to adjust policies in a way that will meet the requirements of the Franklin Circuit judge that’s put in that injunction. But right now, it is fully enjoined. Then there’s also a challenge nationwide in securing the drugs that are necessary to potentially carry it out. So, I don’t see it in the near future.”

Even though Schickel is leaving the legislature, he says he’s always favored the death penalty, but he thinks momentum is in the other direction.

He said, “I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the death penalty outlawed, or no longer used by law. Think that’s the momentum it’s going in.”

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