This June 18, 2010, file photo shows the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. (File/AP)
This June 18, 2010, file photo shows the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. (File/AP)

The state Department ofCorrections told the state Attorney General's office on Friday that they are prepared to execute people by firing squad.

The 35 death-row inmates in the state can be sentenced to death once the state Supreme Court approves them.

The electric chair is the primary method of execution in the state and inmates can choose to be executed by firing squad or lethal injection.

The lack of lethal-injection drugs has made it impossible for the state to use a firing squad.

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The executions of two men in June of last year were delayed because the firing squad was not available.

One of the two men could be first in line.

How SC will carry out executions by firing squad

The South Carolina Department ofCorrections spent about $53,600 to establish a firing squad and renovated its execution facility. It includes renovations to the capital-punishment facility, as well as a number of rifles, and it was redacted in a response to a records request by The Greenville News.

Specifics for how the firing squad will operate must be approved by the Supreme Court.

The capital punishment facility in Columbia has a state death chamber that has been renovated to accommodate a firing squad.

If inmates choose to be executed by firing squad, a chair has been added to the chamber. The metal chair with restrains is surrounded by protective equipment in a corner of the room away from the electric chair, which cannot be moved.

The firing-squad chair is facing a wall with a rectangular opening. The open portal and rifles of the squad will not be seen from the witness room.

The witnesses will see the right-side profile of the prisoner, and the prisoner will not face the witness room directly, unlike an execution by the electric chair.

A hood will be placed over the prisoner's head as they are strapped into a chair. After the execution order is read, a small aim point will be placed over their heart.

A doctor will examine the prisoner after the shots. The curtain will be drawn and witnesses will be escorted out once the prisoner is declared dead.

SC's firing squad differs from Utah's

Utah is the only state in the past 40 years that has carried out a death sentence. The most recent was in 2010 for the man who killed a bartender and a lawyer and tried to escape from a courthouse in 1985.

South Carolina's procedures differ from Utah's, as officials from the Department of Correction visited Utah before establishing their own firing-squad system.

Utah uses a five-member firing squad, but South Carolina has three law-enforcement officers in it, and all of them have live rounds.

The firing squad in South Carolina is made up of volunteers who meet certain qualifications according to the department.

Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens wait death sentences in South Carolina

The state Supreme Court is expected to approve the new firing-squad policies, which will likely lead to the executions of Brad Sigmon and Freddie Eugene Owens.

The Supreme Court issued warrants for their deaths.

The execution dates for Sigmon and Owens were June 18, 2021, and June 25, 2021, respectively. The court halted the executions on June 16, 2021, when the Department ofCorrections told the court that a firing squad was not in place.

Sigmon was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murders of David and Gladys Larke.

Owens was sentenced to death in 1999 after being found guilty of murder in the 1997 killing of Irene Graves, and he has confessed to killing fellow prisoner Christopher Lee. Owens legally changed his name in 2015, but the state judicial system still identifies him as Owens to provide clarity.

The death penalty case of Brad Sigmon.

What we know about the death penalty case of Freddie Owens.

Stan Tzouvelekas runs a social media site with misinformation.

The Golden Strip has government and growth. You can get in touch with her by sending an email to concierge@greenvillenews.com.

The article originally appeared on the News.

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