Attorney General Chris Koster says Missouri may have to resort to using the gas chamber to carry out death sentences as an "unintended consequence" of the state Supreme Court's refusal to set execution dates.
Executions have been on hold in Missouri since the state Supreme Court has declined to set execution dates. The court says execution dates would be "premature" until a federal legal challenge is resolved regarding the use of the drug propofol as Missouri's new execution method.
Koster told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday that if the court doesn't change course, the legislature may have to fund alternative execution methods. The only execution methods authorized in Missouri are lethal gas and injection.
Koster says the gas chamber may be the last option to enforce state law.
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