CARSON CITY (AP) — Nevada lawmakers are split on whether to spend $860,000 to build a new execution chamber at Ely State Prison.
A joint Assembly and Senate budget subcommittee split a vote 5-5 on Monday on whether to recommend the construction project. The issue may be resolved at a Wednesday meeting.
The state's existing death chamber at the shuttered Nevada State Prison in Carson City is not in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. State officials have said for about four years that they wouldn't be able to carry out an execution there.
Executions remain rare in Nevada, which has only carried out the death penalty 12 times since 1977.
Department of Corrections officials say there are about 80 inmates on Nevada's death row, but the state hasn't executed anyone since 2006.