By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
The Idaho House of Representatives approved a supplemental appropriation of $850,000 on Thursday for the Idaho Department of Correction to build a facility to carry out executions by firing squad.
HB 357 passed the House in a 48-19 vote and heads to the Senate. The appropriation bill came after both chambers passed a bill to bring back the firing squad as a legal form of execution, if the chemicals for lethal injection are unavailable.
Idaho currently does not have a facility on its prison campus to execute someone by firing squad, so IDOC will need to construct one. There are currently eight people on Idaho’s death row.
Legislators introduced the proposal for using the firing squad as an alternate method after IDOC had to twice cancel executions because it could not procure the necessary chemicals.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.