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Attorney general and prosecutors urge committee to approve HB36 to add nitrogen hypoxia and restore supplier confidentiality
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Summary
At a second hearing on House Bill 36, Attorney General Yost and prosecutors urged the House Judiciary Committee to authorize nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative execution method and to restore confidentiality protections for drug suppliers, arguing delays have left victims without closure; members pressed them on drug procurement, vetting of nitrogen hypoxia, and legal safeguards.
Chairman Thomas opened a second hearing for House Bill 36, which would add nitrogen hypoxia as an authorized method of execution and restore statutory confidentiality for suppliers of execution drugs. Attorney General David Yost and the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association testified in favor.
Attorney General Yost told the committee he had testified on the bill previously and urged members to "put this bill to an up or down vote," saying inaction on capital punishment "has created a dishonorable situation." He criticized private drug companies for "veto[ing] public policy" by refusing to supply drugs for lethal injection and argued the legislature should provide an alternative method or repeal the death penalty to resolve the impasse. Yost cited counts of people on death row and said a sizable group had exhausted appeals and was awaiting execution dates.
Members pressed the attorney general on whether the federal government had assisted after a presidential executive order. Yost said his office had contacted the U.S. Department of Justice and was told DOJ was developing protocols, but he had no date certain. Asked whether the state had tried to procure lethal-injection drugs, Yost said communications involving the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections could be privileged; he added, "If the Department of Justice is willing to make sodium pentothal available from its stockpile, I will personally file fly with bodyguards and a secure metal attache case handcuffed to my wrist to Washington and personally transported back." He emphasized that decisions about carrying out sentences remain the governor's responsibility.
Mr. Tobin of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association said HB36 "adds nitrogen hypoxia as an authorized method of execution and prohibits the disclosure of certain execution identifying information." Tobin described an unofficial moratorium—Ohio's most recent execution was July 2018—and said the bill would provide state law options when lethal injection is unavailable. He also argued that restoring confidentiality for suppliers (a policy that previously expired after a 2015 law with a two-year sunset) could help obtain necessary means. Tobin suggested the state consider divesting public funds from companies that refuse to provide drugs for executions.
Committee members asked about the empirical and ethical basis for nitrogen hypoxia, citing international and veterinary objections. Mr. Tobin and the attorney general relied on defense-bar filings and examples from other jurisdictions to argue the method is feasible and has been described in litigation as "virtually 100% effective at causing a pain free death," language Tobin attributed to defense pleadings. Members also raised deterrence, due-process and exoneration concerns; witnesses stressed existing appeals and habeas processes and said prosecutors seek death sentences only where they believe guilt is clear.
No committee vote was taken on HB36 during the hearing; the bill was given a second hearing and will return to the committee schedule if members request further action.
