Yost voices support for executions by nitrogen hypoxia

Ohio Attorney General's Office

COLUMBUS – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost recently told members of the House Judiciary Committee that the state’s long-broken and costly capital-punishment system reflects “a dishonorable abdication of responsibility” that could – and should – be resolved with legislative approval of nitrogen hypoxia for executions in Ohio.

“An additional method of execution is necessary,” Yost said, testifying in support of House Bill 36, which would permit the use of nitrogen hypoxia for executions.

Currently, lethal injection is the only form of execution authorized under Ohio law, but, as Yost noted in his testimony, “private drug companies are defying Ohio’s laws and vetoing public policy by refusing to provide execution drugs.”

Yost reminded committee members that the families of victims as well as Ohioans who served as jurors and made the difficult decision to sentence a defendant to death are counting on Ohio leaders to carry out the state’s capital-punishment laws.

Nine states currently allow lethal gas as a means of execution. Five of those – Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma – specify nitrogen hypoxia, which is inert gas asphyxiation.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure that states with capital punishment have access to the drugs needed for lethal injection. Yost welcomed the move in a March 5 letter to Bondi, saying that “without the assistance of the federal government, Ohio’s situation is unlikely to change.”

Yost’s office issues an annual report on Ohio’s capital-punishment system. The 2024 edition notes that:

Ohio’s last execution was carried out in July 2018.

On average, a condemned inmate in Ohio spends more than 22 years on Death Row.

From 1981 to 2024, 337 people received a combined 342 death sentences in Ohio. Only 56 of those sentences – one in six – have been carried out.