BOISE, Idaho — Idaho could begin executing death row inmates by firing squad as early as this summer after Gov. Brad Little joined a wave of Republican support to use the method when lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Little signed House Bill 186 on Friday, tasking the Idaho Department of Correction with creating policies to implement the new law, which goes into effect in July. The department also plans to spend an estimated $750,000 to overhaul a cell block at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution outside Kuna, where death row inmates are housed, to move forward with firing squad executions.
The new law stands to make Idaho the fifth U.S. state to adopt a firing squad as an alternative method of execution. Tennessee also is in the midst of considering a similar bill to add the execution method this legislative session.
