The South Carolina Senate approved a bill last week that would bring back the electric chair and firing squad as methods of executing prisoners on death row, WLTX reported.
The bill passed by a 26-13 margin Wednesday, the television station reported.
A similar bill was also approved by the Senate last year but failed in the South Carolina State House, WIS reported.
The electric chair made its debut in South Carolina in August 1912 and was last used in 2008
The electric chair was first used in South Carolina on Aug. 6, 1912, and was last used in 2008, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections' website. South Carolina has executed 282 prisoners since 1912 and 43 since the ban on capital punishment was lifted in 1985, according to the website. The last execution took place in 2011 by lethal injection. Jeffrey Motts was executed in May 2011 for the death of his cellmate, WIS reported.
Currently, death row inmates can choose lethal injection or the electric chair, WLTX reported. Under the provisions of the proposed legislation, if an inmate waives the right to choose, or if the date of their execution has passed and the waiver is not renewed, the state has the option to used the electric chair or firing squad as options, the television station reported.
South Carolina has had difficulty obtaining a supply of the drug used for lethal injections, WLTX reported.
There are currently 35 inmates on death row in South Carolina, the television station reported.
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