Nebraska lawmaker bashes report on failed execution drug buy

LINCOLN, Neb. – A Nebraska lawmaker said he’s disappointed by a recently released report about the state’s failed attempt last year to purchase execution drugs from overseas.

The report released Monday by State Auditor Charlie Janssen details efforts by the Department of Correctional Services to buy more than $54,000 worth of drugs from a provider in India. Federal agencies blocked the drugs’ import, and the broker refused to refund the state.

The report doesn’t answer all of the questions posed by Sen. Ernie Chambers, an independent, and Democratic state Sen. Burke Harr, The Omaha World-Herald (http://bit.ly/2h6cAvJ ) reported.

Chambers said the report doesn’t measure up to the standards of an audit and suggested it amounted to Republicans closing ranks. But Harr said he was pleased with the report and that it demonstrated the benefits of openness and transparency about executions.

State Auditor Charlie Janssen, a Republican, defended the report, saying everything his office does is nonpartisan. He also noted that the report was not an audit because it doesn’t include comments and recommendations on how agencies can improve operations.

“I was more on a fact-finding hunt,” he said.

The corrections department has proposed a new protocol to allow the department director to choose which drug or drugs to use in executions. The plan also would allow the department to keep the drug supplier’s identity secret. The current protocol for executions requires the use of three drugs, two of which were part of the failed purchase Chambers and Harr asked Janssen to look into.

One question left unanswered in the report was why the state didn’t sue the broker, Chris Harris, for breach of contract by not refunding the money. Corrections officials said the contract did not have a provision for seeking a refund, and Harris said a refund was not possible “as there has been no fault of my company.”