An Arkansas House committee has supported a plan to help restart executions in the state by allowing different drugs to be used in lethal injections and to shield where those chemicals come from.
The House Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the House on a voice vote on Tuesday. It would allow the Department of Correction to either use a barbiturate or a combination of three drugs for executions. The agency would also be barred from releasing who makes or supplies the drugs.
The Arkansas Supreme court last week ruled the state's existing lethal injection law is constitutional. The state hasn't executed anyone since 2005, and has 33 inmates on death row.
The bill could be considered by the House as early as Wednesday.
