COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has explored overseas options in its search for lethal injection drugs no longer available in the U.S. despite a court ruling that banned such purchases, records show.

The prison where Ohio carries out executions successfully applied for an import license from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration late last year in its search for lethal injection drugs, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request. The license expires at the end of February next year.

“Law enforcement purpose,” Richard Theodore, prisons agency policy adviser, said on a DEA questionnaire in November, prompted for the reason for applying.

The state declined to comment directly on the license, saying only it was still looking for lethal drugs.

“Ohio continues to seek the drugs necessary to carry out court ordered executions. This process has included pursuing multiple options,” JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said in an email.

In May, Nebraska’s governor confirmed the state had obtained sodium thiopental from India. But two weeks later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the state cannot legally import a drug needed to carry out lethal injection.