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Senate adopts amendment allowing recording of final words and advances victim-representation bill for executions
Summary
Senate substitute Bill 165 formalized victims' opportunity to witness executions, limited the number of close relatives permitted, and adopted an amendment authorizing the Department of Corrections to record a defendant's final words; the measure passed as amended to third reading.
Senator Edgar Allen presented substitute Senate Bill 165, which would codify victims' rights to witness executions and set limits on who may attend. The bill identifies eligible close relatives and limits attendance to no more than five close relatives unless the director approves otherwise.
During floor consideration the sponsor proposed and the Senate adopted an amendment to authorize the Department of Corrections to record the defendant's final words. That amendment passed without recorded opposition on the floor and the amended substitute was announced as passing to the third-reading calendar (clerk announcement: 25 aye votes, no nay votes, 4 absent as announced on the floor).
Sponsor Allen said the bill was prompted by uncertainty experienced by victims' families during a prior in-state execution. "The substitute bill puts into law the right of victims or the victim's relatives or close contacts to witness an execution," he told the chamber, and he described the recording provision as a clarification the bill needed. The amendment and the bill as amended were approved on the floor and will proceed to subsequent consideration as scheduled.
