LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas has a new lethal injection law. Gov. Mike Beebe's office said Wednesday that he signed legislation that rewrites the state's lethal injection law, despite his misgivings about the death penalty.
The new law spells out in greater detail the procedures the state must follow in carrying out executions. It says the state must use a lethal dose of a barbiturate but leaves it up to the Department of Correction to determine which one.
The legislation came up after the Arkansas Supreme Court last year struck down the state's lethal injection law passed in 2009.
The new law means Arkansas could potentially resume capital punishment, but court challenges may further delay the state from executing a prisoner for the first time since 2005.
