As Amended
SEC. 99-19-51. Manner of execution of death sentence.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the manner of inflicting the punishment of death shall be by continuous intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of an ultra short-acting barbiturate or other similar drug in combination with a chemical paralytic agent until death is pronounced by the county coroner where the execution takes place or by a licensed physician according to accepted standards of medical practice.
(2) If the execution of the sentence of death as provided in subsection (1) of this section is held unconstitutional by an appellate court of competent jurisdiction, or if the person sentenced to suffer the death penalty was sentenced prior to July 1, 1984, then the manner of inflicting the punishment of death shall be by lethal gas; that is, by causing the person sentenced to suffer the death penalty to be placed in a properly constructed gas chamber, and then causing said gas chamber to be filled with a lethal gas commonly used in the execution of persons sentenced to suffer the death penalty, and the person placed therein allowed to remain a sufficient length of time to cause death.
SOURCES: Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 64, art. 12, Title 2(24); 1857, ch. 64, art. 323; 1871, Sec. 2816; 1880, Sec. 3091; 1892, Sec. 1447; 1906, Sec. 1520; Hemingway's 1917, Sec. 1282; 1930, Sec. 1307; 1942, Sec. 2550; Laws, 1940, ch. 242; 1954, ch. 220, Sec. 1; 1984, ch. 448, Sec. 2; 1994, ch. 479, Sec. 1, eff from and after July 1, 1994.