The change in administration effectively will end the ban on executions set in May by outgoing Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening, but the two administrations disagree on when it officially would end.
Nevertheless, death warrants could be signed within a few weeks for at least two inmates.
"Right now we're up approaching the wall, pretty soon we'll be up against it," said Fred Warren Bennett, lawyer for inmate Steven Oken, one of the two inmates facing imminent execution.
Ehrlich's inauguration also comes just days after the release of a state-commissioned study that shows racial and geographic disparities in how Maryland's death statute is used by prosecutors.
Some state lawmakers want to extend the moratorium while they review the report, but Ehrlich has indicated he doesn't think the study's findings warrant any immediate changes in Maryland's law.
A last-ditch attempt by black lawmakers to extend the halt on executions appears to have failed, and Glendening has promised not to intervene in his final day as governor.
Del. Salima Siler Marriott, a Baltimore Democrat, hoped to rush through the General Assembly a bill lengthening the moratorium and have it signed by Glendening before tomorrow. As of today, the bill had not yet been reviewed by legislative committees.
Ehrlich campaigned against the moratorium last year, pledging to lift it immediately upon taking office. Asked outside a prayer breakfast today when he it would happen, Ehrlich said a decision would be made "in the near future."
But Ehrlich and Glendening are at odds over when the moratorium officially ends.
Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said Glendening had simply put in place a "blanket stay" on executions rather than enacting any official document or executive order, so "there's nothing to sign to perform this quote-unquote repeal."
"It's simply a change in the position of the occupant of the governor's office," he said, which effectively would take place the moment Ehrlich is sworn into office.
However, Glendening's attorneys say the moratorium was part of a May 9 executive order the governor signed staying the execution of death row inmate Wesley Baker. Ehrlich must first issue an executive order reversing that decision before he can sign any death warrants, according to Glendening spokesman Chuck Porcari.
Glendening, who imposed the moratorium over worries the state's death penalty was biased, said he would not follow the lead of Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who on Saturday gave a last-minute blanket commutation to the state's death row inmates.
"In light of the incoming governor taking the oath of office, the governor felt it would be inappropriate to take such action," Porcari said.
Ehrlich has said he will look at each individual case that comes before him for clemency. A task force headed by Lt. Gov.-elect Michael Steele will lead that case-by-case review.
Maryland has 12 men on death row -- four whites and eight blacks. Two could have death warrants signed when the moratorium is lifted, and five others will likely run out of appeals later this year, according to the Maryland attorney general's office. The state's last execution was in 1998.
The death penalty study, done by a University of Maryland criminologist, reviewed 1,311 death eligible cases between 1978 and 1999. It found prosecutors were most likely to seek death sentences for black defendants with white victims. Geography was also key -- the use of the death penalty varied dramatically between Maryland's 24 counties.
Marriott, who said she still will push her moratorium extension bill when Ehrlich takes office, said she fears the new governor will ignore the report's conclusions.
"This is a state-funded study. I don't think we ought to waste the money," she said.
Several death row inmate attorneys plan new appeals based on the study. Bennett said he try to reopen the sentencing phase of Oken's case, because his client was tried in Baltimore County, which had a disproportionate number of death sentences according to the study.
But some victim's relatives say the end of the moratorium may soon bring them closure they have sought for years.
Fred Romano's sister, Dawn Marie Garvin, was raped and shot to death by Oken in a Baltimore County apartment 15 years ago. He expects Oken will die soon.
"I have no doubt he is going to be executed in the next several weeks," Romano said. "He's toast."