71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 610
 
                         House Bill 2096
 
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
  Presession filed (at the request of Governor John A. Kitzhaber,
  M.D., for the Department of Corrections)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Allows Director of Department of Corrections to adopt rules
regulating steps in process of execution that witnesses may
observe.
  Declares emergency, effective on passage.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to executions; amending ORS 137.473; and declaring an
  emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 137.473 is amended to read:
  137.473. (1) The punishment of death shall be inflicted by the
intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of an
ultra-short-acting barbiturate in combination with a chemical
paralytic agent and potassium chloride or other equally effective
substances sufficient to cause death. The judgment shall be
executed by the superintendent of the Department of Corrections
institution in which the execution takes place, or by the
designee of that superintendent. All executions shall take place
within the enclosure of a Department of Corrections institution
designated by the Director of the Department of Corrections. The
superintendent of the institution shall be present at the
execution and shall invite the presence of one or more
physicians, the Attorney General and the sheriff of the county in
which the judgment was rendered. At the request of the defendant,
the superintendent shall allow no more than two clergymen
designated by the defendant to be present at the execution. At
the discretion of the superintendent, no more than five friends
and relatives designated by the defendant may be present at the
execution. The superintendent shall allow the presence of any
peace officers as the superintendent thinks expedient.
  (2) The person who administers the lethal injection under
subsection (1) of this section shall not thereby be considered to
be engaged in the practice of medicine.
  (3)(a) Any wholesale drug outlet, as defined in ORS 689.005,
registered with the State Board of Pharmacy under ORS 689.305 may
provide the lethal substance or substances described in
subsection (1) of this section upon written order of the Director
of the Department of Corrections, accompanied by a certified copy
of the judgment of the court imposing the punishment.
  (b) For purposes of ORS 689.765 (8) the director shall be
considered authorized to purchase the lethal substance or
substances described in subsection (1) of this section.
  (c) The lethal substance or substances described in subsection
(1) of this section are not controlled substances when purchased,
possessed or used for purposes of this section.
   { +  (4) The Director of the Department of Corrections may
adopt rules establishing the steps in the process of an execution
that persons who are present at the execution as witnesses under
subsection (1) of this section, or as otherwise permitted by the
superintendent, may observe. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + This 2001 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2001 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
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