Idaho has put the firing squad back at the center of capital punishment, and the state is now building the rules to match.

Quick Take

• Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 37 on March 12, 2025, and the law takes effect July 1, 2026.
• Idaho now makes the firing squad its primary execution method, the only state with that rule.
• The Idaho Department of Correction released detailed execution procedures, including volunteer screening and marksmanship tests.
• Critics say secrecy rules and past firing squad failures raise real questions about transparency and pain.

Idaho Moves to a New First Choice

Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 37 into law on March 12, 2025, making the firing squad Idaho’s primary execution method. The change takes effect on July 1, 2026, after lawmakers approved it with strong votes in both chambers. Idaho is the only state that now names firing squad as its main method, instead of a backup option.

The move comes after years of trouble with lethal injection drugs and a wider national search for execution methods that states say are workable. Supporters in Idaho argue that the firing squad is more certain and cheaper to carry out than drug-based executions. Opponents see the same shift as a return to a method that is harsh, graphic, and hard to square with public trust.

Inside the New Execution Protocol

The Idaho Department of Correction has already released a 36-page protocol that lays out how the process will work. It says firing squad volunteers must be Idaho law enforcement officers certified through the Peace Officer Standards and Training program for at least three years and must have no recent disciplinary problems. The protocol also requires shooters to pass marksmanship testing at the same distance and target setup used in an execution.

The same document says the condemned person will be offered a mild sedative the night before and again within four hours of execution. The person will then be strapped into an execution chair with a target placed over the heart. Idaho also says it spent more than $1.2 million to retrofit the chamber, a major public cost for a method supporters say should be simple and final.

Supporters Call It Certain, Critics Call It Dangerous

Representative Bruce Skaug, a co-sponsor of House Bill 803, defended the method as “humane because it is sudden, it is quick, and it is certain.” That is the core claim driving the law’s supporters. But the public has not seen Idaho prove that claim in practice yet, because the state has not carried out a firing squad execution under this new system.

Idaho Makes Firing Squad Primary Execution Method | https://t.co/oApPo9G2kJ https://t.co/wcoY9me3FL

— Slayer (@cyberxwolf7) July 2, 2026

Critics point to South Carolina’s recent firing squad executions as a warning sign, saying one prisoner bled to death after shots missed the heart. They also note that firing squad executions fell out of favor for decades because of their graphic nature. Idaho’s secrecy rules add another layer of concern, since the law shields key execution details from public review and limits outside scrutiny of the team and its procedures.

Readiness, Oversight, and the Bigger Battle

Readiness remains an open question. Reports in late 2024 said Idaho had approved a $952,589 construction plan, but work had not yet started even as the July 1, 2026 deadline drew closer. That delay matters because the state is not just changing a rule on paper. It is asking taxpayers to trust a new system that has not been publicly tested in Idaho and has no local track record to judge.

The broader issue is bigger than one chamber or one sentence in state law. Idaho’s decision fits a national pattern of states turning back to older execution methods when lethal injection drugs become harder to get. For readers who care about limited government, transparency, and basic accountability, the question is simple: if the state wants this power, why hide so much of how it works?

Sources:

pjmedia.com, youtube.com, deathpenaltyinfo.org, corrections1.com