The Indiana Department of Correction (DOC) offered a new but tiny glimpse into Indiana’s efforts to resume executions, revealing the state paid $900,000 to acquire the drug used to carry out the death penalty for convicted killer Joseph Corcoran. But the new document does not make clear when or how much pentobarbital was purchased, which would provide context for the cost, News From The States reports. The Indiana Capital Chronicle sued the corrections department Jan. 21 amid a months-long battle to seek taxpayer dollars spent on the execution drug. Before that, an existing state law was broadly applied by DOC and former Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office to shield details about how the state obtained the drug. The law specifically bars release of the name, address or tax identifier. But cost is not included in the details barred from public release. So the Indiana Attorney General’s Office — representing DOC — provided the Capital Chronicle with an almost entirely redacted single-page document. Exempted from the black redaction box on the sheet was a sliver of text: “IDOC shall pay the Contractor the sum of nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000).” The page appears to originate from the state’s contract with the unknown drug vendor. The Capital Chronicle is still seeking additional details about the execution drug and dosage amounts.
The latest court response filed Wednesday by state attorneys denies any wrongdoing in shielding information requested by the Capital Chronicle. A 2015 fiscal report prepared by Indiana General Assembly found that the average cost of a death penalty trial in the Hoosier State was $385,458 — nearly 10 times more than the cost of trial and appeal for cases in which the prosecution seeks a maximum sentence of life without parole. Elsewhere, reporting from the Idaho Statesman indicated the state’s corrections department paid $50,000 for 15 grams of pentobarbital in 2023. CBS2 in Idaho further reported that the state paid $100,000 for another three doses of the drug. Other reporting similarly suggests that five grams of pentobarbital is generally needed for a single execution.