Governor Little signed H 186 into law on Friday. The bill allows the State of Idaho to use a firing squad as a method of execution to complete the sentence of a death row inmate if medicines required for the method of lethal injection are not available.
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Originally brought to the House floor by Representative Bruce D. Skaug in February, the bill states that if medicines can not be acquired after five days from the date of execution, the option of death by firing squad is valid to terminate the life of a person sentenced to death.
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The measure is expected to incur a one-time cost to the state of $750,000.
The bill passed in the House by a vote of 50-15-5, and in the Senate by a vote of 24-11-0.
The law becomes effective as of July 1, 2023.
