Idaho to consider firing squad as primary form of execution

BOISE — A bill was introduced Tuesday to make the firing squad the primary method of execution by the state. Currently, the state’s primary method of carrying out the death penalty is lethal injection, and the firing squad is to be used if the chemicals for lethal injection cannot be obtained.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, presented the bill to the House Judiciary and Rules Committee, which voted unanimously to introduce it. The bill will come back for a full hearing.

“This bill is not about whether the death penalty is good or bad, it’s already been determined that is how we carry out justice in some cases,” Skaug said Tuesday. “Our job is to carry it out in the most efficient manner under the bounds of our constitutional requirements.”

Under the bill, if the firing squad is unavailable, then lethal injection would be the method used. The director of the Idaho Department of Corrections would be tasked with determining which method is available. The bill would go into effect July 1, 2026.

The Legislature in 2023 enacted a law to implement the firing squad as a secondary method of execution. The Legislature also in 2023 appropriated $750,000 to remodel a facility to carry out firing squad executions. The bill was proposed after the Idaho Department of Correction called off the planned execution of Gerald Pizzuto in 2022 when the state was unable to obtain the chemicals needed for lethal injection.

Skaug’s new bill comes after the state halted the planned February 2024 execution of Thomas Creech after the medical team repeatedly failed to find a vein to carry out the lethal injection, the AP reported.

Idaho currently has nine people awaiting a death sentence, according to the Idaho Department of Corrections. The state has carried out three executions since 1977.

Utah is the only state to have used firing squads in the past 50 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Idaho’s neighboring state executed Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010 by firing squad. Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina also permit use of the firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection.

The bill introduced Tuesday will come back for a full hearing and public testimony before the committee votes on it.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.