46-19-103. Execution of death sentence. (1) In pronouncing the sentence of death, the court shall set the date of execution which must not be less than 30 days or more than 60 days from the date the sentence is pronounced. If execution has been stayed by any court and the date set for execution has passed prior to dissolution of the stay, the court in which the defendant was previously sentenced shall, upon dissolution of the stay, set a new date of execution for not less than 20 or more than 90 days from the day the date is set. The defendant is entitled to be present in court on the day the new date of execution is set.
     (2) Pending execution of a sentence of death, the sheriff may deliver the defendant to the state prison for confinement, and the state shall bear the costs of imprisoning the defendant from the date of delivery.
     (3) The punishment of death must be inflicted by hanging the defendant by the neck until he is dead or, at the election of the defendant, by administration of a continuous, intravenous injection of a lethal quantity of an ultra-fast-acting barbiturate in combination with a chemical paralytic agent until a licensed physician pronounces that the defendant is dead according to accepted standards of medical practice. A defendant who wishes to choose execution by lethal injection shall do so at the hearing at which an execution date is set, and if he does not, the option to choose death by lethal injection is waived.
     (4) When an execution date is set, a death warrant signed by the judge and attested by the clerk of court under the seal of the court must, within 5 days, be prepared. The warrant and a certified copy of the judgment must be delivered to the warden of the state prison. The warrant must be directed to the warden and recite the conviction, judgment, method of execution, appointed date of execution, and the duration of the warrant.
     (5) The warden of the Montana state prison shall provide a suitable and efficient room or place in which executions will be carried out, enclosed from public view, within the walls of the state prison, and shall provide all implements necessary to the execution. The warden shall, subject to subsection (6), select the person to perform the execution, and the warden or his designee shall supervise the execution. The identity of the executioner must remain anonymous. Facts pertaining to the selection and training of the executioner must remain confidential.
     (6) An execution carried out by lethal injection must be performed by a person selected by the warden and trained to administer the injection. The person administering the injection need not be a physician, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse licensed or registered under the laws of this or any other state. The warden must allow the execution to be observed by 12 witnesses, 3 of whom may be designated by the person to be executed.
     (7) Within 20 days after the execution, the warden shall return the death warrant to the clerk of the court from which it was issued, noting on the warrant the time, mode, and manner in which it was executed.

     History: En. 95-2303 by Sec. 1, Ch. 196, L. 1967; R.C.M. 1947, 95-2303; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 191, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 292, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 411, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 107, Ch. 370, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 552, L. 1989.