A lawmaker from Nampa wants to make the firing squad the main method of executing people in Idaho.
The legislation was presented to the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee on Tuesday by Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa. In order to prepare for a subsequent public hearing before the committee, the committee decided to introduce the legislation.
In Idaho, the most common method of carrying out the death penalty is lethal injection.Skaug’s successful sponsorship of House Bill 186 and Governor Brad Little’s signing of it into law in 2022 made death by firing squad permissible in Idaho, citing difficulties in acquiring lethal injection medications.
The Idaho Legislature enacted House Bill 658 during the 2022 legislative session, granting secrecy to producers and sellers of lethal injection ingredients. According to a previous article by the Sun, Little signed the bill in March 2022, which also prohibits the disclosure of that private information in court documents.
In order to give the Idaho Department of Corrections time to renovate a facility for firing squad use, Skaug stated that his revised measure would not go into effect until July 2026.Skaug claimed that since the 2022 law had already given the Department of Correction $750,000 to renovate the facility, it would not have an effect on the state budget.
Skaug informed the committee, “This bill is not about whether the death penalty is good or bad.” It is our responsibility to ensure that we operate as efficiently as possible while adhering to the Constitution.
The website of the Idaho Department of Corrections states that there are nine individuals in Idaho on death row.
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