Montana lawmakers hear bill that would allow executions to move forward
By:
Jonathon Ambarian
and last updated 2021-02-04 13:15:14-05
HELENA â Montana lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday on a bill that would give the state the ability to resume executions through lethal injection, by changing the legal description of the drug it must use in the procedure.
The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on House Bill 244, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Lenz of Billings.
Since 2015, the state has effectively been unable to administer the death penalty. State law requires that the Montana Department of Corrections use an âultra-fast-acting barbiturateâ as part of its procedure for giving a lethal injection. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock, of Helena, ruled that pentobarbital â the drug the state was planning to use â did not meet that requirement, and he blocked the state from using it âunless and until the statute authorizing lethal injection is modified in conformance with this decision.â