Ohio prisons chief retires

COLUMBUS (AP) — The head of the Ohio prison system has announced he’s retiring less than two weeks after ushering in the nation’s first single-drug lethal injection process.

Terry Collins announced his retirement today after a 33-year career in corrections. He has been director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction since 2006.

Collins had to lay off employees and pushed for alternative punishments for low-level offenders as the inmate population hit record highs and the state fought dropping revenue.

Collins announced last month Ohio would adopt a single-drug execution method in hopes of ending a 5-year-old lawsuit claiming the three-drug process could cause severe pain.

The state on Dec. 8 became the first in the country to execute an inmate — Kenneth Biros of Trumbull County — with one dose of a powerful anesthetic.

Collins' retirement is effective Jan. 31.