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He will be executed Thursday by lethal injection after he refused the electric chair.

While Tennessee’s primary method of carrying out the death penalty is lethal injection, historically, many executions in the state were performed with the electric chair.

Prior to that, executions were carried out using the gallows.

History

According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, capital punishment has existed intermittently in Tennessee since it became a state in 1796. Throughout the centuries of Tennessee’s statehood, hanging was the primary mode of execution for the convicted. It wasn’t until 1913 hanging was replaced by the electric chair.

The Tennessee Department of Correction website lists executions in Tennessee ranging back to 1916. The list states from 1913-1915, there was no capital punishment in Tennessee, and prior to 1913 there are no records for how many people were hanged. However, 1916 became the first year of capital punishment by electrocution, with Julius Morgan’s execution on July 13.

From 1916 to 1960, 125 people were executed by means of electric chair. The 1930s were the peak of death sentences for the state, with 47 executions being carried out. Of the 125 people, four were from local counties of East Tennessee, each with a conviction of murder:

• John Green, Washington County; died Feb. 17, 1922
• Bin Burchfield, Sullivan County; died Jan. 14, 1925
• Curley Ballard, Sullivan County; died Aug. 11, 1936
• Miller Tollett, Carter County; died Jan. 11, 1939

Once offender William Tines was executed on Nov. 7, 1960, no capital punishments were held in the state of Tennessee and 1972-1978, no offenders were on death row. This came from the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Furman v. Georgia case that the death penalty “is unconstitutionally cruel and inhuman.�

The death penalty became legal again in 1978, according to the Department of Correction, and electrocution remained the only method of execution until 1998. It was then the state legislature added the choice of lethal injection “to offenders who committed their crimes before Jan.1, 1999.�

With the turn of the century, lethal injection was specified by legislature as the primary method of execution in March 2000, and death row offenders who committed their crime(s) prior to Jan. 1, 1999 could choose between the injection or the electric chair.

The next execution wasn’t carried out until Robert Coe’s death on April 19, 2000, by lethal injection. Two other death row offenders, Sedley Alley and Philip Workman, were also executed by lethal injection in 2006 and 2007.

A list titled “Capital Punishment Chronology� from Department of Correction records Daryl Keith Holton to be the first person since 1960 to be executed by the electric chair, choosing electrocution over lethal injection on Sept. 12, 2007. Since Holton’s death, five other offenders on death row also chose electrocution over lethal injection, including Nicholas Sutton, with his death Feb. 20, 2020.

Death Row, modern day

Today, according to the Department of Correction, offenders sentenced to death are kept in a separate unit at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. The Department of Correction listed on their website an information section titled “Life on Death Row.� This states offenders are awakened around 5:30 a.m, eat breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. before returning to their cells at 9 p.m.

All offenders have a “maximum-security� designation and are classified into behavioral levels of A, B or C, as listed by the Department of Correction. The information also states once an offender enters death row, they are automatically placed on Level C, requiring the highest amount of supervision. After 18 months, the offender is reclassified and can potentially move to Level B based on their behavior.

After a certain amount of time is spent on Level B, the person can then move to Level A, which is the only level the offenders can apply for the jobs available on death row, such as cleaning, food preparation and data entry. The offenders can also move backwards on the scale due to misconduct.

There is a period for the offenders known as “Death Watch.� This is a three-day period before an execution date where strict guidelines are implemented to “maintain the security and control of the condemned offender and to maintain safe and orderly operations of the prison.� Visitation is allowed, but only for individuals on the offender’s visitation list, and the number of visitors is selected at the warden’s discretion.

Visiting hours for the offenders are from 8 a.m-4 p.m., with a two-hour visit in the morning and the afternoon. It also states visits are non-contact until the day of execution, and the warden decides if the offender can have a contact visit.

Spiritual advisors for the offenders are under the same guidelines, and only the prison chaplain can accompany the offender into the execution chamber with the request of the offender. The attorney of the offender may also have a non-contact visit prior to the execution.

The Correction website states the offender is placed in one of four cells adjacent to the execution chamber 72 hours prior to the execution, where the offender remains under 24-hour surveillance by a designated team of correctional officers. Additionally, the cell has a metal desk with metal footstool attached, a metal shelf, shower, stainless steel sink and toilet and a metal-framed bed with one mattress. The items an offender can have in his or her cell are limited, and visitation schedule/regulations differ from the rest of the facility.

Though the list is short, there are witnesses that can be present at an offender’s execution. The Department of Correction notes on their website state law mandates only specific people are allowed to witness an execution, and all witnesses must be 18 years old. The following is the list of eligible witnesses on their website:

• Immediate family members of the victim.
• Immediate family members of the condemned offender.
• The warden of the prison/associate warden.
• The sheriff of the county where the crime was committed.
• The offender’s spiritual advisor/the prison chaplain.
• The prison physician.
• Attendants deemed necessary by the warden to carry out the execution.
• Up to 7 members of the media, selected in accordance with the guidelines promulgated by the Department of Correction.
• One defense counsel chosen by the offender.
• The State Attorney General or designee.

Smith’s execution at 10 a.m. CST will be witnessed by Six Rivers Media Content Director Rob Walters. The Department of Correction has Smith listed as the oldest offender on Death Row at 75 years old. He has been on Death Row since July 1990.