South Carolina has finished renovating a correctional facility and says death row inmates now have the option of being executed by firing squad

South Carolina is ready to carry out firing squad executions after renovations at the capital punishment facility.

In a press release on Friday, the South Carolina Department ofCorrections said firing-squad executions are now allowed.

The death chamber has been renovated. The press release said that the chamber now has a chair in which inmates will sit if they choose to be executed by firing squad.

Legislation was passed in May of last year that made the electric chair the state's primary means of execution, and gave inmates the option of choosing death by firing squad or lethal injection.

Legislation was passed last year to combat the state's inability to get lethal injection drugs. The last batches of lethal injection drugs expired in South Carolina. Drug manufacturers have been reluctant to sell the drugs to states because of pressure from anti-death penalty activists.

The death chamber renovations cost over $50,000.

The chamber has a metal chair with handcuffs that faces a wall with an opening that allows three firing squad members to aim their rifles from the other side. A member of the execution team will place a small aim point over his heart.

After the execution order is read, the firing squad would shoot the prisoner, according to the press release.