Corrections Department issues new rules for performing executions

State corrections officials have issued a new execution policy that will allow South Dakota to carry out its first execution in 60 years.
The new policy corrects problems that caused Gov. Mike Rounds to call off the scheduled execution of Elijah Page in August. Page is now scheduled to be executed the week of July 9 for the 2000 torture murder of Chester Allan Poage, 19. Page, 25, ended his appeals last year and asked to be executed.
Rounds postponed Page's execution last year because state law at the time required the use of two specific drugs for lethal injection, but prison officials intended to add a third drug to the mix in line with current practices in other states.
The execution had to be halted because everyone involved could have been accused of taking part in something illegal, Rounds said.
At the governor's suggestion, the 2007 Legislature passed a law removing the legal reference to specific kinds of drugs, giving prison officials discretion to determine them.
The new policy, which takes effect on July 1, specifies the substances the Corrections Department will use in executions.
The policy says the inmate will be hooked up to 2 intravenous lines, one the primary line for the lethal injection and the second a backup.
First, sodium pentothal will be injected to make the inmate unconscious and not subject to unnecessary pain. The 2nd chemical, pancuronium bromide, will be used to stop the inmate's breathing. The 3rd, potassium chloride, will be injected to stop the inmate's heart.
Inmates sentenced to death under the old law have a choice of whether to use the old 2-drug protocol or the new 3-drug mix. Page has until 7 days before the week of his execution to make a final choice.
The new policy makes it clear that physicians will not be required to attend an execution. The Legislature put those provisions in law after doctors said taking part in executions would violate the oath that requires them to preserve life or save life whenever possible.
State law and prison policy require that executions be conducted by people trained to do intravenous injections. Officials told lawmakers earlier this year that the state planned to hire people who have conducted executions in other states. State Corrections Secretary Tim Reisch said he can not reveal where those people are from because the state must protect the privacy of those involved in executions. "The people who are going to perform these functions will be qualified to do so, and they won't be members of our own Department of Corrections staff".
The new policy adds a section listing details in the execution process. "We tried to put a little more information in the policy to be a little more forthright about what will be taking place," Reisch said.
The governor, attorney general and chief justice of the state Supreme Court will be provided with telephone numbers to reach prison officials for emergency communications. The inmate will be moved to the execution chamber after officials confirm with the governor, attorney general and chief justice that no last-minute appeals have been filed and that no stays of executions have been ordered.