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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Idaho lawmakers have introduced a bill to make a firing squad the primary method of execution in the state.
Why It Matters
Under Idaho law, lethal injection is the primary method, but executions by firing squad are allowed if executioners can't obtain the drugs required.
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The proposed legislation would make Idaho the only state to have the firing squad as its primary method of execution.
Idaho has not carried out any executions by firing squads and a facility for such executions needs to be built. It is among the states that have turned to alternative methods after struggling to obtain lethal drugs since pharmaceutical companies barred the use of their drugs in executions.
Other states have reauthorized the use of electric chairs, while Alabama last year started executing people using nitrogen gas.
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What to Know
State Representative Bruce Skaug, a Republican, introduced the bill to the House Judiciary and Rules Committee on Tuesday. It would make the firing squad the primary method of execution, and lethal injection would be used only if the firing squad is unavailable.
The committee unanimously voted to introduce the bill, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.
Newsweek contacted Skaug and the Idaho Department of Correction for further comment via email.
Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a law authorizing the use of a firing squad if lethal injection were not available in March 2023.
That legislation, which was sponsored by Skaug, came after the state was forced to repeatedly delay Gerald Pizzuto Jr.'s execution due to an inability to obtain lethal injection drugs. It also appropriated $750,000 to remodel or build a facility for firing squad executions.
Since then, the Idaho Department of Correction has had more consistent access to pentobarbital, the state's preferred drug for lethal injections, according to the Idaho Statesman. The state prison system most recently purchased a batch of the drugs in October, the newspaper reported.
However, the state has not successfully carried out any executions since then. In February last year, the state halted the execution of serial killer Thomas Creech after officials were unable to find a vein to establish an intravenous line to carry out the lethal injection.
Idaho currently has nine people—eight men and one woman—on death row, according to IDOC. The state's last execution, of Richard Leavitt, took place on June 12, 2012.
Four other states besides Idaho—Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah—have laws allowing firing squad executions if other methods are not available.
But Utah is the only state that has put people to death by firing squad since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The state has carried out three such executions, mostly recently executing Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad on June 18, 2010.
What People Are Saying
Skaug said on Tuesday: "I see this bill as being less problematic with appeals in the courts. Essentially, if you don't have the bullets, then you go to the pentobarbital.
"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... Our job is to carry it out in the most efficient manner under the bounds of our constitutional requirements."
State Rep. Chris Mathias, a Democrat, said: "When this came to us I think two years ago, I just expressed concerns about the state being in the retributive killing business, and I still will bring that sentiment to the full hearing."
What's Next
The bill will return to the committee for a public hearing at a later date.
If approved, the law would go into effect in July 2026. Skaug said that was to allow time for the facility for firing squad executions to be built.
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