# What skillz does one need to operate THE Electric Chair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781 "2010-12-30T02:18:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/1 "2010-12-30T02:18:26Z")
An odd thought popped into my head last night: What training or certification does someone need to become The Flip Switcher on the Electric Chair involved in Capital Punishment cases? Or is it done by drawing straws? ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/2 "2010-12-30T12:41:52Z")
This is a really good question. Surely there must be a Doper out there with prison connections who knows the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/3 "2010-12-30T12:51:28Z")
Whatever you do, don’t forget to wet the sponge. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/4 "2010-12-30T13:12:50Z")
“THE” electric chair? As opposed to the electric chairs that we all have in our homes? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/5 "2010-12-30T13:39:32Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > “THE” electric chair? As opposed to the electric chairs that we all have in our homes? I just bought my wife an [electric chair](http://www.la-z-boy.com/Product/6391/)for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/6 "2010-12-30T13:44:39Z")
Check out [Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462477/combined) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/7 "2010-12-30T13:47:48Z")
I think for that job they do not force people to do it, they just ask senior level prison people if they are willing to do the job. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/8 "2010-12-30T14:10:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I just bought my wife an [electric chair](http://www.la-z-boy.com/Product/6391/)for Christmas. Oh. So “electric chair” is a pun? We don’t have electric chairs here, in either sense (well we do, but we wouldn’t call motorised chairs that). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/9 "2010-12-30T14:41:23Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > An odd thought popped into my head last night: > > What training or certification does someone need to become The Flip Switcher on the Electric Chair involved in Capital Punishment cases? > > Or is it done by drawing straws? Speculating here, but I think the actual flipping of the switch doesn’t require a lot of expertise. OTOH, the team that straps the convict into the chair probably needs to be trained on how to do that job correctly, lest the convict wriggle free, suffer excessively, or completely fail to be executed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/10 "2010-12-30T14:43:28Z")
Stephen King’s The Green Mile will tell you more about electric chairs than you could possibly want to know. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/11 "2010-12-30T14:48:58Z")
Does one need to be a licensed and/or union electrician? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/12 "2010-12-30T14:59:17Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Oh. So “electric chair” is a pun? Yes. Insert laughter here. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/13 "2010-12-30T16:08:10Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Oh. So “electric chair” is a pun? Shocking, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/14 "2010-12-30T16:31:39Z")
I see. Things like electric Lay-Z-Boy chairs would probably be called something like motorised chairs, but they’re not really popular enough to have a name. At least, not in current usage. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/15 "2010-12-30T18:55:22Z")
Warden: Your resume says your previous job was at the Humane Society, euthanizing animals. Why did you decide to apply for this job? Applicant: I wanted to work with people. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/16 "2010-12-30T18:58:27Z")
Obligatory Prince reference[.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_4lMUoePjg) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/17 "2010-12-30T19:40:17Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Whatever you do, don’t forget to wet the sponge. Boy was it ever an awkward day in the office when I learned _that_ one! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/18 "2010-12-30T19:59:55Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Stephen King’s The Green Mile will tell you more about electric chairs than you could possibly want to know. Only if you wanted your knowledge to be limited to circa 1930 (or whenever in the past that film was supposed to take place). > [@Machine Elf](#): > > Speculating here, but I think the actual flipping of the switch doesn’t require a lot of expertise. I see I’m the first one in this thread to think of “The Far Side” cartoon showing Electric Chair school instruction. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/19 "2010-12-30T20:28:49Z")
Texas used the same electric chair from 1924 to 1964 and Florida appears to have used the same one from 1924 to present (not counting replacing non-electrical parts of the chair itself), so it doesn’t appear that the basic technology has changed much. Some states used actual electricians to perform the executions, but in Texas from 1936 to 1964 the executions were performed by Captain Joe Byrd, captain of the guard and assistant warden, so it doesn’t appear that much beyond “on the job” training was needed. [List of known executioners in the U.S.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_executioners#United_States) [State Electrician](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_electrician) ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781/20 "2010-12-30T21:07:36Z")
Is there just one switch? If I were designing it, there would be 3 or more with a randomizing device so it would not be certain who threw the switch that actually mattered…sort of like loading one blank for the firing squad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-skillz-does-one-need-to-operate-the-electric-chair/565781.md?page=2)