Records: Texas has enough drugs for 5 executions

HOUSTON — Texas has enough of the execution drug pentobarbital to carry out the first five lethal injections scheduled for 2015.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice records obtained Monday by The Associated Press under an open records request show that there were 12 doses of the powerful sedative in the prison system’s inventory as of the end of October, after the state carried out its 10th and final execution this year.

Two doses are required for each execution, plus another two in reserve.

At least 13 inmates have execution dates in 2015, including four in January and two in February.

Assuming none of the first five is halted or rescheduled, a new supply will have to be obtained or an alternate drug used to accommodate the Feb. 10 execution of Lester Bower Jr. for the killing of four men at a North Texas airplane hangar 30 years ago.

“TDCJ continues to explore all options including the continued use of pentobarbital or an alternate drug[s] in the lethal injection process,” agency spokesman Jason Clark said in a statement.

Records show that the state paid more than $12,000 on July 25 for its most recent supply of the drug, which has become increasingly difficult to obtain. The purchase, signed for by James Jones, warden at the Huntsville Unit, where executions are carried out, shows that nearly $800 more was paid to cover testing for sterility, potency, toxicity and credit card fees.

As in the recent past, the records were redacted to conceal the name of the company that supplied the drugs.
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