A judge has ruled that the state Department of Corrections violated Missouri’s open records and meetings law by not revealing the name of the pharmacy that makes the pentobarbital it uses in lethal injections.
The Department is allowed by law to keep the names of the members of its execution team secret. The Department has refused to reveal the name of the compounding pharmacy that makes its pentobarbital and it was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union, a reporter, and a reporters’ organization, who argued that the secrecy statute doesn’t extend that far.
A Cole County Judge ruled the Department cannot, “define the execution team as it wishes, without limitation.”
The state has ten days to appeal. The Attorney General’s office says it is reviewing the ruling.