Earlier this week, Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 379 into law, which is a bill that will mandate so-called chemical castration for certain sex offenders as parole condition for early release.

The law received headlines all around the country, despite Alabama joining several states, which includes California, Louisiana and Florida, with chemical castration laws already on the books.

If the bill’s sponsor had his way, it would go much further. During an interview on Huntsville radio’s WVNN, State Rep. Steve Hurst (R-Munford) explained his push for the legislation but added that he would prefer surgical castration or even death for some offenders.

“I did say this, and I still say this, and I’ve told the media, and I’ll tell you – the way I look at it, it should be surgical castration,” Hurst said on “The Jeff Poor Show.” “But if somebody molests a small child, to be quite honest with you, they ought to die. But God is going to deal with them one day on this issue. What we got to do is figure out a way to get something going that hopefully will protect these kids, and hopefully, these people will be deterred from doing this and not be a repeat.”

“But it’s something that’s going to be ongoing,” he continued. “The medication is listed in the bill. It’s varying things, but it’s open-ended that if other things are required to be taken, that can happen, too.”

Hurst said it was his goal to implement something that is effective, and added that this effort is a work in progress to prevent these situations.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.