LITTLE ROCK — A bill to restart executions in Arkansas after nearly a decade without them has cleared the Senate and is headed to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Senators voted 25-4 Wednesday evening to allow the Department of Corrections to use a combination of three drugs for lethal injections in addition to the existing method of a single barbiturate. The agency would also be barred from releasing who makes or supplies the drugs.
Proponents said the changes are needed to help restart executions and that the secrecy is needed for the state to access the chemicals.
Democratic Sen. Linda Chesterfield of Little Rock said the proposal could be unconstitutional and said shielding where the drugs come from is bad policy.
A Hutchinson spokesman didn't return a request for comment.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.