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KRS 431.220

Execution of death sentence

Applied in 17 court decisions — leading case Baze v. Rees (2008)

Most recently applied in Nance v. Ward (June 2022)

Effective: March 31, 1998 History: Amended 1998 Ky

How often courts cite this section

197819801990200020102020202220
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) (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.

(2) 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.

(3) 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.

Official source: Kentucky General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Kentucky statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.