ARAuthorizedRisk of next use: High
Arkansas
Legally cleared to carry out nitrogen executions — and, alongside Louisiana, the state most likely to try next.
- Status
- Authorized
- Executions
- 0
- Authorized
- 2023
- Statute
- Ark. Code § 5-4-617 (as amended 2023)
How Arkansas got here
Arkansas amended its execution statute in 2023 to authorize nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative when lethal-injection drugs cannot be obtained. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has publicly defended the state's ability to resume executions, and Arkansas has an existing pool of condemned prisoners with exhausted appeals. Corrections officials have privately requested Alabama's protocol materials. If any state moves first after the Lee injunction, Suffocation by Design identifies Louisiana and Arkansas as the two most likely candidates.
The process, step by step