431.220 Execution of death sentence.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(a)
Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, every death sentence
shall be executed by continuous intravenous injection of a substance or
combination of substances sufficient to cause death. The lethal injection shall
continue until the prisoner is dead.
(b) Prisoners who receive a death sentence prior to March 31, 1998, shall choose
the method of execution described in paragraph (a) of this subsection or the
method of execution known as electrocution, which shall consist of passing
through the prisoner's body a current of electricity of sufficient intensity to
cause death as quickly as possible. The application of the current shall
continue until the prisoner is dead. If the prisoner refuses to make a choice at
least twenty (20) days before the scheduled execution, the method shall be by
lethal injection.
All executions of the death penalty by electrocution or lethal injection shall take
place within the confines of the state penal institution designated by the Department
of Corrections, and in an enclosure that will exclude public view thereof.
No physician shall be involved in the conduct of an execution except to certify
cause of death provided that the condemned is declared dead by another person.
Effective: March 31, 1998
History: Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 220, sec. 1, effective March 31, 1998. -Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 211, sec. 84, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended 1986
Ky. Acts ch. 331, sec. 51, effective July 15, 1986. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74,
Art. V, sec. 2. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942,
from Ky. Stat. sec. 1137-1
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