South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill into law over the weekend that would require death row inmates to choose their execution method if lethal injections are not available in the state.
The measure will allow the state to restart executions after nearly a decade-long pause, adding firing squads as an alternative method. A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed the bill forward earlier this year and voted 32–11 in favor on March 2.
According to the new law, death row inmates will have to choose between the electric chair or the newly formed firing squad. The state Senate bill will keep the option for lethal injection open if state has the drugs.
“This weekend, I signed legislation into law that will allow the state to carry out a death sentence,” the Republican governor said on Monday. “The families and loved ones of victims are owed closure and justice by law. Now, we can provide it.”
It is currently unclear when executions can resume in the state. The electric chair is ready to use and prison officials have been doing preliminary research into how firing squads carry out executions in other states, but they are not sure how long it will take to have one in place in South Carolina.
Other states that allow a firing squad are Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
South Carolina has been unable to purchase lethal injection drugs for about five years, as pharmaceuticals companies seek to limit how the product is used. As a result, three scheduled executions so far have been pushed back.
“For several years, as most of you know, South Carolina has not been able to carry out executions,” state Sen. Greg Hembree, a co-sponsor of the bill, told the Senate floor. “Families are waiting.
