Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 99 - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (§§ 99-NEW-001 — 99-51-3) › Chapter 19 - JUDGMENT, SENTENCE, AND EXECUTION (§§ 99-19-1 — 99-19-401) › IN GENERAL (§§ 99-19-1 — 99-19-77) › Section 99-19-51 - Manner of execution of death sentence; execution team; confidentiality of identities of State Executioner and his or her deputies, members of execution team, supplier of lethal injection chemicals and witnesses listed in Section 99-19-55 (2)

(1)
At the discretion of the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration and the Deputy Commissioner for Institutions of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the manner of inflicting the punishment of death shall be by one of the following:
(a)
intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity into the body;
(b)
nitrogen hypoxia;
(c)
electrocution; or
(d)
firing squad, until death is pronounced by the county coroner where the execution takes place or by a licensed physician according to accepted standards of medical practice. Upon receipt of the warrant of execution from the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Commissioner of Corrections shall, within seven (7) days, provide written notice to the condemned person of the manner of execution. It is the policy of the State of Mississippi that intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity into the body shall be the preferred method of execution.
(2)
The Commissioner of Corrections has the authority and discretion to select and obtain the substances and the means necessary to carry out an execution, and may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations as the Commissioner deems necessary to administer and implement the provisions of this section.
(3)
(a)
The Commissioner of Corrections shall select an execution team to assist the State Executioner and his deputies. The execution team shall consist of those persons, including all medical personnel, who provide direct support for the administration of lethal chemicals, those individuals involved in assisting in the execution in any capacity and those personnel assigned to specific duties related to an execution.
(b)
For the purposes of this section, "supplier of lethal injection chemicals" means a supplier or suppliers of lethal injection chemicals located within the State of Mississippi.
(c)
The identities of the State Executioner and his deputies, all members of the execution team, a supplier of lethal injection chemicals, and those witnesses listed in Section
99-19-55(2)
who attend as members of the victim's family or designated by the condemned person shall at all times remain confidential, and the information is exempt from disclosure under the provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.
(4)
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any portion of any record of any kind that could identify a person as being a current or former State Executioner, his or her deputies, a member of an execution team, a current or former supplier of lethal injection chemicals, or those witnesses listed in Section
99-19-55(2)
who attend as members of the victim's family or designated by the condemned person, shall at all times be confidential, exempt, and protected from disclosure, but the remainder of the record shall not be protected unless otherwise provided by law. A court shall preserve the secrecy of all confidential and exempt information described in this section by reasonable means, which may include granting protective orders, holding in-camera hearings, sealing the records of the action, and ordering any person involved in the litigation not to disclose such information without prior court approval.
(5)
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if the State Executioner, his or her deputies, a member of the execution team or supplier of lethal injection chemicals is licensed by a board or department, the licensing board or department shall not censure, reprimand, suspend, revoke, or take any other disciplinary action against the person's license because the person participated in a lawful execution. Any person or institution assisting with or participating in carrying out an execution in accordance with this statute shall be presumed to be acting in good faith. Any person or institution acting in good faith in connection with carrying out an execution shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. The State Executioner and his deputies, and all members of the execution team perform their respective functions as official duties on behalf of the state or any agency of the state.
Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 64, art. 12, Title 2(24); 1857, ch. 64, art. 323; 1871, § 2816; 1880, § 3091; 1892, § 1447; 1906, § 1520; Hemingway's 1917, § 1282; 1930, § 1307; 1942, § 2550; Laws, 1940, ch. 242; Laws, 1954, ch. 220, § 1; Laws, 1984, ch. 448, § 2; Laws, 1994, ch. 479, § 1; Laws, 1998, ch. 404, § 1, eff. 3/18/1998.
Amended by Laws, 2022, ch. 414, HB 1479,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 406, HB 638, 1, eff. 4/5/2017.
Amended by Laws, 2016, ch. 452, SB 2237, 1, eff. 5/3/2016.