LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The ACLU of Nebraska is investigating the state’s purchase of new lethal injection drugs to carry out executions.

The civil liberties group filed an open records request Friday to review whether the acquisition was lawful.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Thursday that state officials have bought all three drugs required for executions. Nebraska lost its ability to execute prisoners when its supply of sodium thiopental, a required lethal injection drug, expired in December 2013.

ACLU of Nebraska executive director Danielle Conrad says the state has faced legal problems in its past efforts to obtain lethal injection drugs, and her group will hold officials accountable.

Nebraska Solicitor General Jim Smith, who handled previous death penalty cases, has said the issues raised in past cases were later resolved.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An effort to repeal the death penalty in Nebraska has cleared another critical vote in the Legislature.

Lawmakers voted 30-16 on Friday to advance the repeal measure through the second of three required votes, despite a filibuster led by death-penalty supporters.

One final vote is required before it goes to Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, a death penalty proponent who has promised a veto. If the current support holds, the bill will have a veto-proof majority.

Some lawmakers have argued that Nebraska should abolish capital punishment because it has only wasted money and created a false promise for victims’ families. The state hasn’t executed anyone since 1997, and some prisoners have been on death row for decades.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska high school students will continue to earn the same wages as their adult counterparts after a bill to slash student workers’ minimum wage failed to gain a two-thirds majority in the Legislature.

Senators voted 29-17 on a measure that would have kept the minimum wage for part-time student workers at $8, even after the standard minimum wage increases to $9 in January.

The measure needed 33 votes to pass because it would have modified a citizen-led ballot measure.

Nebraska residents voted to raise the minimum wage last November.

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, says she believes public outcry derailed the bill. Ebke does not know whether she will bring a similar measure next year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state corrections director says a prison struck by a weekend riot will remain under lockdown until the threat of further disturbances has passed.

Director Scott Frakes said in a memo released Friday that the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution’s lockdown will depend on good behavior and how quickly repairs can be made to facilities.

Inmates took control of part of the prison on Sunday. Two inmates were killed. Prison officials have said both men were likely killed by other inmates. Lawmakers said Thursday that fire, water and structural damage from the chaos could total $350,000 to $500,000. Insurance will likely cover the expense.

Some lawmakers have said the upheaval may have stemmed from inmate complaints about a lack of programing. Frakes promised inmates improvements but says they’ll take time.

• Benjamin Lee King, 36, North Platte and Lindsey Donelle Schafer, 37, North Platte

 

• Joseph Lynn Duran,30, Stapleton and Alissa Fern Ione Hodges, 29, Stapleton

 

• Andrew Lee Powell, 24, North Platte and Taylor Renae Shore, 22, North Platte

 

• Justin Dee Herrick, 34, North Platte and Nathalie Ann DeBuc, 31, North Platte

 

• James Andrew Thornburg, 31, Ashby NE and Shaylyn Michele Miller, 35, Hershey

 

• Matthew Alan Welte, 31, North Platte and Amelia Katherine Rundquist, 21, North Platte

 

• Jacob Alexander Bassett, 31, North Platte and Tory LeAnn Marie Kleist, 24, North Platte

 

• Samuel Peter Dunn, 24, North Platte and Shayla Ann Theiler, 22, North Platte